C. sapidus

Da boyz have become fans of salad, but I usually throw in some cukes for old times' sake. Speaking of pork fat, tonight younger son baked a pound of bacon with maple syrup. It didn't last long. Thank you, Patrick. The recipe is from James Oseland's Cradle of Flavor, a book that I can recommend unreservedly. An adaptation of the recipe can be found here (clicky). Send me a PM if you would like more info.

Hah! When our boys were younger, their favorite meal was spaghetti with ketchup. Your little ones will be fine (and well-traveled!). mm84321 – looks good! Garlic-black bean pan-fried mahi mahi, from Dancing Shrimp. Mrs. C picked up the fish while I chopped garlic, ginger, fermented black beans, and cilantro stems. Black soy sauce, sugar, rice wine, black pepper, and cayenne rounded out the flavors. Served over jasmine rice, with our usual side salad of lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes, and scallions.

Franci – Thanks! Re secrets: 1) Start with foods that they like, slowly expand their comfort zone, and steer clear of power struggles; 2) If they don’t like something, try to figure out why (texture, a particular ingredient, etc.); 3) Children become much less picky when they are hungry; and 4) When all else fails, add bacon! It does take time, though. Children often need to try a new food several times before they will enjoy it. Our boys are teenagers, so they have become inured to my cooking. Sounds like our small town (minus the beach ) – we have one pan-Asian market and one Indian grocery. Availability of Latino and Caribbean ingredients is increasing nicely, though . . .

Gorgeous meals, all! Malaccan beef and vegetable stew – This looks conventional, but the aromas of star anise, cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, and fried shallots give it away. The boys started wandering into the kitchen at least an hour before dinner was ready. Stir-fried long beans with fermented black beans and garlic – A family favorite Store-bought bread – I enquired about a particular kind of bread that I like. Baker: “Oh, all we have is fresh out of the oven.” Me: “Um, no problem.”

Franci – nice to see you posting again. Those oysters look divine! Thank you! Judges have been lenient lately, unless I inflict seafood on their delicate palettes. That looks and sounds fantastic! Must.Make.Soon. We hosted a Christmas open house for about 20 adults, and (somewhat to our surprise) another 10 of elder son's friends. On Christmas Eve Mrs. C and my mother baked 7-layer bars, almond-lemon shortbread, and some delicious ginger snaps. For the party, Mrs. C baked artichoke-filled puff pastries and set out various vegetables, dips, cheeses, and finger foods. One of our friends runs a restaurant and brought her killer cream of crab soup and equally killer layered espresso brownies. Other friends brought pound cake, lots of wine, and very pleasant company. I made huge batches of beef curry, spice-infused basmati rice, mulligatawny soup, and butternut squash crescents baked with garlic, chiles, and curry leaves. Accompaniments included seared ginger raita, red chutney, green chutney, and onion kachumbar. The crab soup, beef curry, rice, and (surprisingly) baked squash disappeared quickly. The mulligatawny soup went untouched, so for Monday night’s dinner I jazzed it up with chunks of potato and chicken thighs, some coconut milk, lime juice, and brown sugar to balance. Boys approved. Mrs. C baked Brie in puff pastry, served with cut-up strawberries. She also made a spinach salad with strawberries, bacon, walnuts, and balsamic vinaigrette. No pictures of anything, so you’ll have to take my word for it.

Mmmm, lasagna . . . Slow-braised beef with potatoes – seasoned with ginger, star anise, cinnamon stick, dried chiles, dark and light soy sauce, rice vinegar, and chile-bean paste. The potatoes absorbed the flavors of the sauce nicely. Served over jasmine rice. Stir-fried green beans and red bell peppers with fermented black beans – with sliced garlic, rice vinegar, and sesame oil.

Dejah, you know me well. Leftover rendang (as if!) or your quick-fix char siu meal, lap mei fan, or fermented soybean spare ribs (more info, please!) would all make lovely breakfasts. Recipe was from Neelam Batra’s 1,000 Indian Recipes. I have grown quite fond of this cookbook. Thank you, percyn - the recipe did include a half-cup of coconut milk for 1.25 pounds of meat. Mrs. C made borscht and buttered garlic rice for dinner tonight, but no pictures.

Patak's brinjal eggplant relish, straight out of the jar. I just discovered it, and have quickly become addicted. And thank you for the kind words.

Supreme egg porn as always, percyn Blue cheese omelet for me

Wow, y’all have been posting lots of great looking meals! I’m learning a new camera, so here are a few of our meals lumped together, most accompanied by a salad of some sort: Keema with spinach – and coconut milk, curry leaves, ginger, garlic, onions, chiles, black cardamom, cinnamon, cumin, coriander, fenugreek, cilantro, and garam masala, served with eggplant relish and cumin basmati rice Tomato, shrimp, and bay scallop sauce – with browned garlic, fresh rosemary, black pepper, parsley, and a dried chile or three, served over penne pasta Baklava – with Chef Crash’s no-fuss recipe, it was easy to make two batches for holiday parties. This was one of the few pieces that survived.

Lior, major props on your forays into Mexican cooking – definitely more of a challenge when key ingredients are not readily available! Our dinner tonight, adapted from Mexico the Beautiful Cookbook: Bay scallops a la Mexicana – with tomatoes, white onion, garlic, pickled jalapenos, black pepper, bay leaves, parsley, and thyme. Scallops were sautéed in butter and then simmered in the sauce. Mrs. C (not normally a scallop fan) had seconds, and perhaps even thirds. Chard and spinach with potato and chorizo – plus more white onion and tomatoes. Potatoes and chorizo overcame the boys’ usual aversion to spinach. Guacamole

Usually when you are smoking meat, there is room for a few odds and ends - sausage, vegetables, etc. Toss 'em on and see what happens. Smoked sweet potatoes are lovely. I also love to smoke mushrooms, dry-fry them over high heat until they squeak, and then finish the mushrooms with a little oil, garlic, soy sauce, etc. Smoke & Spice by the Jamisons has lots of good recipes, including many for vegetables and sides. I have the original, so I will be interested to hear about the revised edition. The Virtual Weber Bullet site has lots of good information, even though you have a different kind of smoker. Have fun, and do post your results!

Thank you, Snadra. I should confess that my cabbage was sliced rather than hand-torn, for expediency.

Holy moley, percyn, you scared everyone away with those compelling breakfasts! Mine was considerably more pedestrian - cabbage fried rice topped with a dollop of brinjal (eggplant relish).

Speaking of which . . . Hand-torn cabbage with vinegar makes an easy, tasty winter vegetable dish. I also love stir-fried water spinach (spinach, etc.) and stir-fried bell peppers with black beans. Pretty much anything with black beans is good. We use jasmine rice for Chinese and SE Asian meals, and usually basmati for Indian meals. Anyway, tonight's dinner: Stir-fried beef with cumin; hand-torn cabbage with vinegar; and jasmine rice

Dejah - Thanks! I always enjoy seeing your meals, and thinking "Yep, I could make a pig of myself on that." Pan Can - Yum! Choo chee curry shrimp with lime leaves and basil - Delicious! We served this Thai-style, with lots of jasmine rice and a smallish amount of strongly-flavored curry containing red curry paste, fish sauce, palm sugar, cracked coconut cream, and a paste of red chiles pounded in the mortar. Stir-fried baby bok choy - a perennial favorite from Hot, Sour, Salty, Sweet. We boiled the greens briefly before stir-frying with garlic, fish sauce, and fermented soybean paste.

djyee100 - You know that pork and eggplant stir-fry sounds right up my alley. Xilimmns - Interesting. Can you describe how the SV carrots were "different"? Dinners from Sunday and Monday night, each served with salad: Chicken and potato curry, from Into the Vietnamese Kitchen. A squeeze of lime brightened the flavors nicely. Very popular with a visiting seven-year old who helped cook dinner, delaying matters by at least a half-hour. Puerco a la Mexicana and cowboy beans. Elder son added this to his "what Dad can make when my friends come over for dinner" list.

Bruce, that pork looks and sounds yummy - can you elaborate? Sure, and thank you. The recipe is "caramelized minced pork" from Andrea Nguyen's outstanding Into the Vietnamese Kitchen. Fry yellow onion until soft, add ground or minced pork and brown, and then add fish sauce, caramel sauce, and a little sugar. Stir and cook until the juices are gone and the pork fries in its rendered fat and turns reddish-brown. Finish with chopped scallions. For more about the book, see an excerpt in the Daily Gullet.

djyee100 - that sounds like a killer salad. Prawn - Glad that your finger is healing up and you are posting delectable meals again. Gorgeous rib eyes all around, too. Simple meal tonight - Vietnamese caramel pork ; steamed broccoli tossed with fried garlic; and jasmine rice.

Your background sounds fascinating, and I am looking forward to hearing and seeing more. I do have to say - your avatar has an uncanny resemblance to my former boss, so it freaks me out a little every time I see it (no reflection on you or your appearance, of course )

Stir-fried curry beef with green beans. Red curry paste, garlic, red bell peppers, Anaheim and serrano chiles, white pepper, brown sugar, and fish sauce. Served with jasmine rice, eternal cucumbers, and iceberg lettuce to wrap everything into spicy, crunchy morsels. I am learning a new computer, so this is mainly an excuse to test the new software.

Continuing with the non-traditional: Unwillingness to let crab go to waste and a day off work leads to a red curry crab breakfast.

We had some nice meals this week, but no pictures. Monday: Grilled tuna steak with red wine, caper, and olive sauce; bread; salad Tuesday: Spaghetti carbonara; buttered peas with basil; salad Wednesday: Garlicky shrimp over spinach linguine; salad Tonight: Grilled chicken marinated and basted with a puree of garlic, shallots, scallions, habanero chile, bell pepper, fresh thyme, parsley, celery, S&P, soy sauce, and lime juice. Bahamian rice and "peas" with bacon, onion, chile Poblano, garlic, fresh basil, thyme, tomato paste, lime juice, and a touch of sugar. Green salad.

Braised shallot confit, from Molly Stevens' All About Braising. Double the recipe, and then to be safe, double it again.

Tonight's dinner fell somewhere on the spectrum between Mexican food and "let's slap together this stuff that's in the fridge." Red chileatole with mushrooms, salmon, and sweet potatoes, served with arroz blanco and sliced (eternal) cucumbers.