C. sapidus

Jalapeno-baked tilapia with potatoes, arroz rojo, and ancho chile-glazed sweet potatoes with Mexican crema. Mrs. C made a delicious bacon, spinach, strawberry, and mushroom salad.

Inspired by EatNopales' foodblog, this weekend we made a big batch of ancho seasoning paste (toasted ancho chiles, garlic, oregano, cumin, cloves, black pepper, and chicken broth). Ancho paste appeared tonight, and should make regular visits this week. Adobo de pollo de Lujo (Ancho-braised chicken with potatoes and greens): ancho chile paste, chicken thighs, onion, potatoes, Swiss chard, and a hit of cider vinegar. Very popular. Crema de chile Poblano y acelgas ( Roasted Poblano crema with greens): Six roasted Poblano chiles, leftover corn, onion, garlic, oregano, thyme, Swiss chard, crema Mexicana, and chicken broth, thickened with masa harina and embellished with diced potatoes and leftover pulled pork. Quite delicious, despite its appearance.

Labor Day lunch with friends, so we smoked two pork butts overnight on the Weber bullet. We coated the butts with mustard slather before applying a thick layer of "Magic Dust" rub. Next morning we mopped the butts with a vinegar-chile mixture, and then finished the pork in a 225F oven. When the pork reached 185F, nearly all of the fat had rendered and the meat pulled perfectly. Don't be surprised to see leftover smoked pork appear in this week's meals. After i moved the pork to the oven, Mrs. C useed remaining coals to grill eggplant for an outstanding (but not pictured) babaghanouj. Mrs. C also made a delicious watemelon - tomato salad, with onion, basil, balsamic vinegar, etc. Our guests left a plate full of decadent, 3-layer cappucino brownies. I was extremely disappointed to see that gremlins had eaten all of the brownies before I stumbled into the kitchen this morning. I consoled myself with leftovers for breakfast. Pulled pork, homemade mustard slaw, homemade NC BBQ sauce replica (from RecipeGullet)

When life hands you leftovers, make an omelette. In this case, an omelette with garlic-black bean long beans, fish sauce, and Gorgonzola cheese. Yeah, that was a strange combination - even for me. Hit the spot, though.

Looking forward to this very much. Mexican (and "Mexican") food is one of my first loves, and The Art of Mexican Cooking was one of my first cookbooks. The more I learn about Mexican food (or any particular cuisine, really), the more I realize how much I don't know. This is one of the things that makes cooking an endlessly fascinating enterprise.

Another round of home renovation and look what I miss - ribs and mango chip cones and smoked eel and squid and stuffed grape leaves and Fauxstess cupcakes and roast peaches and . . . Sunday night dinner: Keema with potato wedges - ground beef with yogurt, tomato, cilantro, ginger, chiles, lemon juice, black cardamom, cinnamon, bay leaves, coriander, fenugreek, turmeric, and garam masala, finished with an aromatic sprinkling of freshly-ground green cardamom. Quick saag paneer - spinach and paneer cheese with tomato, chiles, garlic, cumin, black mustard seed, fenugreek, coriander, and garam masala. Elder son ate his first dinner at Chipotle, but managed to find room for a second dinner.

Next time try preparing it with cilantro instead of parsley (at least that is the "authentic" way in which I frequently ate it growing up in Mexico City. --dmg Thanks for the tip! How we make the rice depends on what green herbs we have on hand - sometimes cilantro, sometimes parsley, other times Mexican oregano. Tonight we made a dirtier version with cilantro and frijoles negros.

I dunno - your chicken sounds way more fun than ours. And I will definitely take seconds on that dessert. dcarch, all of your pictures are gorgeous, but the Cornish hen with its halo of squash blossoms is particularly so.

Scotty Boy - I'm still waiting for my potluck invitation. No bacon jam here . . . Marinated chicken wings overnight with minced lemongrass, garlic, cilantro stems, turmeric, white pepper, and salt. Grilled over charcoal with a little hickory smoke wood. Served with coconut rice, green salad, and some remarkably sweet and crunchy raw carrots.

RRO / Kate: I am so glad that you are blogging this week, because I always enjoy seeing and hearing about your meals. Thai Food above the fridge should have been a tip-off. Do you have any planned for this week? You do have a very, um, efficient kitchen, but at least the pantry space seems fairly generous (or perhaps you use it very efficiently). Whiskers Blake and blue cheese - that'll cure a hard day at work. And savory oatmeal - genius! Suitably added to my list, but I'll pass on the salty fish version, thankewverymuch. Unfortunately I ran out of words before commenting on all of the fascinating things you have been sharing. Keep up the good work!

AMEN, brutha! You are doing a fantastic job, by the way, so thank you! I'll add my vote for another week, but right now I have an odd craving for pork . . .

Mexican chorizo, locally made (plenty of gristle, but also plenty of flavor). Thank you, Emily! No par-cooking for the taters. Rinse chard, remove the ribs, cook covered for a few minutes, and then chop roughly. Fry chorizo (no casing) and remove. Fry onions and cubed potatoes in the chorizo drippings. Add chopped chard and pureed tomatoes and reduce. Add chorizo, cover, and cook until potatoes are tender - maybe 10 or 15 minutes. With a few corn tortillas, I could happily have made a meal of it.

robirdstix, I'd dive into your mapo dofu for sure. Our meal, adapted from Mexico the Beautiful Cookbook: Fish soup with parsley and shrimp: onion, garlic, parsley, chile serranos, white wine, and chicken stock. Delicious, except the shrimp were chewy. I will make this again with fish or shrimp, but not both. Chard with potatoes and chorizo, plus onion and pureed tomatoes. A short list of ingredients yielded a remarkable amount of flavor, and the family loved this.

Dakki - thanks! I love to see the great variety of tacos that you make, and the salsas look scrumptious. dcarch - thank you. Your meal is gorgeous as always! kayb - thanks! I used the recipe in Cradle of Flavor - excerpted here on The Splendid Table (clicky), Mrs. C made BLATs tonight (bacon, lettuce, avocado, and tomato sandwiches). I added some leftover tomatillo salsa to mine. Elder son tried to steal all the tomatoes, but that would have made the sandwiches BLA.

Kim - I haven't been to Pope's Creek since I was about 12 years old, but it is near and dear to my heart as the first place I ever ate crabs. If we ever head down that way, I'd love to dispatch some crustaceans with you. Kayb - that sounds really good! Various friends and teenagers stopped by for dinner. One guest was from Mexico, and made a delicious, chunky guacamole and some zippy roasted tomatillo salsa. We also set out sliced tomato-mozarella-basil for a pre-meal nosh. For dinner, we served beef rendang, beef sate, Mrs. C's salmon with a soy-ginger-maple syrup glaze, Vietnamese cucumber salad, cabbage salad, incredibly sweet corn on the cob, and jasmine rice. The only survivor was beef rendang, which made a lovely breakfast. Beef rendang and jasmine rice

Kim, we grew up going to Ocean City, too, and your description is spot-on. I haven't been for years, but rather miss it. Oh, and please do send one of those delectable-looking BLTs my way, if you don't mind. Dejah, that is gorgeous! (and sounds really good, too) dcarch thank you, I wish I had seen the show. Your wings are gorgeous but I was a little dismayed to see them, knowing that we had wings scheduled for tonight. Oh well, ours weren't as pretty (or plated like edible art ), but visiting teenagers didn't seem to mind. Star anise wings, marinated with soy sauce, kejap manis, rice wine, sugar, black pepper, MSG, cinnamon sticks, and (duh) star anise, and then brushed with dark sesame oil while grilling over charcoal. Served with Vietnamese cucumber salad, Mrs. C's fried baby potatoes, and leftover cucumber - tomato raita.

Thanks! The recipe is from Steven Raichlen's Barbecue Bible. If you don't have a copy (and you should!), Google "chapli kebab recipe" or click here.

Slipper burgers with ginger, garlic, chiles, onion, black pepper, cayenne, coriander, and cumin, served on potato rolls. Grilled zucchini salad with a dressing of mint, parsley, garlic, cumin, white peppers, smoked paprika, olive oil, and lemon juice. Tomato-cucumber raita with cumin, mint, cayenne, and S&P.

Excellent questions, Jaymes! RRO, as I said on the Dinner thread, I am very glad that the chilorio appealed to you - "deeply savory" is an apt description. Family has been digging protein "a la Mexicana", so I'll keep making it. Both recipes loosely adapted from Mexico the Beautiful Cookbook. Pescados y mariscos a la Mexicana - sauteed bay scallops and chunks of fish in a sauce of tomatoes, onion, garlic, thyme, bay leaves, pickled serranos, and the pickling juice. Arroz verde con rajas - jasmine rice steamed with pureed spinach, parsley, onion, and garlic, and then topped with fried white onion and chile Poblano. Watermelon, tomato, red onion, and basil salad - courtesy of Mrs. C. Not Mexican to my knowledge, but quite delicious.

RRO, your chilorio looks great - glad you liked it! dcarch, very fun sear marks (and beautiful steak, too) We smoked a couple of pork butts overnight, and pulled the pork in the morning. While the pork was smoking I made a spicy, tomato-based barbecue sauce (with, among other ingredients, candied ginger, ancho and chipotle chiles, and thinly-sliced lemon) and a batch of coleslaw. Pulled pork sandwiches with ginger barbecue sauce and mustard slaw

Sounds scrumptious - and fruit is always a healthy choice I say. Fun with odds and ends . . . and how to avoid cleaning the garage. Leftover potatoes, chopped up and fried with a sauce of chipotles, tomatoes, garlic, pepper, cumin, cinnamon, and Mexican oregano. When the hash cooled down I scrambled in some eggs and then topped the lot with more Mexican oregano and Gorgonzola cheese.

One more from Mexico the Beautiful Cookbook. Elder son is taking notes on meals he wants me to make for his friends. He calls this "teenager-friendly food." Camarones al mojo de ajo (garlic shrimp): Marinate shimp with pureed garlic, salt, pepper, and vinegar. Mrs. C prefers the texture of cut-up shrimp, so that's what we did. Lots and lots of minced garlic fried in butter and olive oil, gently-cooked shrimp, and lime juice to finish. Old shoes al mojo de ajo would probably be pretty passable. Arroz a la Mexicana (Mexican rice): pilaf-style rice with onion, pureed tomatoes, carrots, peas, Jalapeno chile, and chicken stock. Salad with lettuce, jicama, avocado, tomatoes, green onions, and leftover avocado dressing.

RRO, thank you! We used boneless country ribs out of necessity, but next time I will use shoulder/butt, trimmed of fat less than assiduously. We left the pork in chunks - I like the texture - but shredded would be easier to stuff into a tortilla. Probably good either way. kalypso - thanks, I think? Couscous and mahi-mahi sounds real good to me!

I am surprised and saddened to hear that Mexico the Beautiful is out of print and pricey. We cooked from it again tonight. Elder son commented "You should make this when my friends come over for dinner." I replied, "Sure, but you need to give us more than 15 minutes notice." Pollo al chipotle (chipotle chicken) - onion, garlic, tomatoes, cloves, cumin, pepper, and chipotles in adobo. Papitas de cambray al ajo (new potatoes with garlic) - potatoes were boiled and then sauteed with butter, garlic, pepper, lemon juice, and Tapatio salsa. Mrs. C said they tasted like potatoes mashed inside their crispy skin. Ensalata mixta con aderezo de aquacate (mixed salad with avocado dressing) - Romaine lettuce, tomatoes, scallions, and avocados, served with a dressing off mayo, garlic, shallots, lime juice, thyme, bay leaf, avocado, olive oil, and S&P. We will definitely make the dressing again.

Yep.