C. sapidus

After. As heidih described, baklava improves after a few days. So no one has added rose water to their baklava syrup? Guess I'll have to break new ground with the next batch.

Firstly, thanks to ChefCrash for posting this wonderful and dangerous recipe. I made a 13 x 9 pan of easy baklava using all butter, two layers of nut filling, and syrup containing sugar, honey, cinnamon bark, cloves, and lemon zest. After the baklava soaked in the syrup for a few days, Mrs. C declared it “the best baklava I have ever eaten.” The texture of the phyllo dough was a little off, but I used a different brand this time. For purposes of scientific experimentation, I feel obligated to repeat the baklava using my normal brand of phyllo dough. Yep, I am willing to take one for the team. Has anyone tried adding a little rose water to the syrup?

After making baklava, I had a little extra simple syrup that had been simmered with cinnamon, cloves, honey, and lemon zest. I used the fragrant syrup and Bulleit bourbon to make make a delicious, tart whiskey sour. Next Thanksgiving, I’m making a double batch of the syrup, and serving fragrant whiskey sours for all.

For Thanksgiving, I inherited the job of making Bourbon sweet potatoes with orange sauce. Lotsa butter, lotsa booze, plenty good. This year, I suggested making something different. My mother gasped. Audibly. I’m a big fan of plain sweet potatoes, baked until liquid exudes and eaten plain, or perhaps topped with a little butter if I am feeling extravagant. I will say that smoked sweet potatoes with orange-pecan butter is mighty fine, and fills in otherwise wasted space on the Weber Bullet when we are smoking a pork butt or ribs.

Oh, my - Kalypso, that looks amazing! Our dinner was much more basic. Grilled chicken escabeche with potatoes; cowboy beans with roasted Poblano chiles and bacon (both from Mexican Everyday). Tapatio or salsa verde de habanero for kick. Green salad, cucumbers, and tomatoes not pictured. I expected plenty of leftovers, but the family wolfed everything down.

We have tried several systems for organic waste / compostables. Initially, we kept a small container in a pull-out under our prep sink, but it was difficult to keep clean and attracted ants. Next, we used a ceramic jar on the countertop. The jar had an integral charcoal filter in the lid, which controlled odors nicely but ants eventually found the container (are you noticing a theme yet?). We did find and eliminate the ant mother-lode, so the kitchen has been blessedly ant-free for some time now (knock wood, etc). Now, we just use a bowl near the cutting board for scraps and take the scraps out to the compost bin after prep. For more elaborate meals this might entail a few trips, but the compost bins are but a short walk outside the kitchen door. Any minor inconvenience is more than repaid when we harvest compost-fed tomatoes.

That was our primary design criteria, also. We installed a Rev-A-Shelf pull-out in an Ikea cabinet. The pull-out holds two tall kitchen trash cans, one for garbage and one for recycling. Kitchen design nerds can while away many happy hours on the Rev-A-Shelf website (clicky). I actually have a picture of our garbage can, taken during my foodblog.

Listen to nakji, but note that Ms. Dunlop's Sichuan cookbook is called "Land of Plenty" in the U.S.

Kim - yum! My new favorite weekday breakfast: fried egg slider (topped w/ Sriracha after the pic, natch).

Exactly what I enjoyed last night, except mine was a lazy version – simply poured over rocks. I do rather enjoy how the flavors change as the ice melts, though. I hope to explore Japanese food some day, so I enjoyed seeing your meals today. Have you found a reasonable number and variety of weeknight-friendly Japanese meals? One kitchen renovation tip: picture the space with nothing in it – no cabinets, no stove, no fridge, nothing. Maybe even no walls, if you find a (preferably non-supporting) wall in a troublesome area. It can be difficult to envision possibilities when all you can see are large, solid objects in the wrong locations. Blog on! I am looking forward to the rest of your week.

Teddy, that’s beautiful, and I bet it tasted fabulous! Our dinner: two thick strip steaks marinated with soy sauce and black pepper, and then grilled over charcoal. One rested in a 190F oven to be shared by the boys. The other was sliced, briefly simmered with lime juice and fish sauce, and then tossed with mint, cilantro, scallions, cayenne, sesame seeds, and roasted rice powder. Served with jasmine rice, iceberg lettuce wedges, sliced cucumbers, and sliced tomatoes.

I like your kitchen set-up, very efficient. Our kitchen is probably pretty similar in size, but we don’t have the stereotypical "massive US house" (nor do many in the US, in my experience ). I had a hunch that you would be a waterstone guy. I like the repeatability of the Edge-Pro system myself, but either gets the job done. Thanks for the reminder that my knives are due for a sharpening. You made two of my all-time favorites in one meal, so bravo! If I had the opportunity to try your twice-cooked pork, I might have a third all-time favorite. Beautiful pics of delectable food, as always.

Kim, nothing wrong with a little lily-gilding. Sardine and Gorgonzola omelet, with extra sardines and Gorgonzola. I enjoyed half as is and then tucked the remainder into a sandwich, topped with Sriracha. Pretty sure I’m not pregnant, but apparently I woke up craving strong flavors.

I have never found fresh green peppercorns, so I use pickled. Lucky you! That said, my two favorite recipes with green peppercorns are: Stir-fried wild pork with beans and green peppercorns (pat prik king muu bpaa - click and scroll down), from David Thompson’s Thai Food (page 297). Spicy chicken with basil (gai pad bai ga-prow - clicky), from Thailand the Beautiful. This is suitable for weeknights and we made it frequently this summer, picking chiles and basil from the garden. I know that holy basil is proper for this dish, but I prefer it with Thai basil (which makes it bai horapa rather than bai ga-prow, as I recall). I would love to hear about what you make.

Prawn, great to see you blogging. Gorgeous food, sweet knives, and a wonderful snapshot-sense of Birmingham. I am quite jealous of your ready access to good ingredients. If you don’t mind the invasion of privacy, I would love to see and hear more about your kitchen. Also, how do you sharpen your knives? And of course I am looking forward to any lip-tingling food that you care to prepare tomorrow.

Mmmm, I’d dive into everyone’s food as usual. With frost in the forecast, I harvested what may be this summer’s last Thai basil and chiles from the garden. We stir-fried yard-long beans, added a paste of garlic, shallots, green peppercorns, and various chiles, and then mixed in ground pork, ground chicken, fish sauce, and sugar. When the meat was cooked we added handfuls of Thai basil, stir-fried until the basil just wilted, and served the dish over jasmine rice. I absolutely adore the aroma of Thai basil hitting a hot pan with garlic and shallots. In keeping with our two-vegetable policy, Mrs. C prepared a delicious cabbage salad and a tasty, clean-out-the-fridge vegetable soup. I guess the long beans were a bonus vegetable. Parental score! Stir-fried chicken and pork with Thai basil

:laugh: I don't have a good answer for your question, because we always make more than we need. I can say that one boneless butt comfortably fed 11 people this weekend (granted, we also made salmon and a bunch of other dishes). Sorry I don't have a better answer for you. But (heh) one of the nicest things about smoking pork butt is the abundance of leftovers, which made for an easy meal tonight. Pulled pork, reheated with homemade BBQ sauce. Smoked sweet potatoes, peeled and microwaved with butter, cinnamon, ground cloves, and salt. Leftover Waldorf salad (made with jicama). Instadinner!

Dinner for 15 on Sunday. Around midnight I slathered two boneless pork butts with mustard sauce and a dry rub, discovering in the process that all of our trussing string disappeared with the renovation. Fortunately, bamboo skewers did a serviceable job of avoiding the dreaded “butt crack”. We served pulled pork sandwiches with slaw and home-made BBQ sauce. I also made smoked sweet potatoes, and smoked mushroom salad with Thai basil and balsamic vinegar. The pork and mushroom salad turned out particularly well. Mrs. C contributed her ever-popular maple-soy-ginger glazed salmon; Waldorf salad; green salad; homemade babaghanoush; and a variety of crackers, breads, and dips. Guests brought chicken biryani; blini with jam; and zebra cake for dessert. Leftovers should feed us well into the week. I’ll see if I can get a decent pork pic for “Behold my butt!”

Dinner from Land of Plenty tonight, served with jasmine rice. Thanks to Erin for the inspiration! Chicken with chiles (la zi ji): Marinate chicken with Shaoxing wine, dark and light soy sauce, and salt. Deep fry the chicken, and then stir-fry with Sichuan pepper, dried chiles, scallions, a little sugar, and lots of sliced garlic and ginger, finishing with sesame oil. Zucchini slivers with garlic (chao nan gua si): Very simple and very good, especially when stir-fried in the same wok as the chicken. Zucchini, garlic, salt, and oil -- that's it. Elder son and I loved the meal; younger son and Mrs. C would have preferred less chile heat. Clearly, I need to spend some time building up their chile tolerance (again).

Donna, Kim, and Percival, thanks for the kind words / information. Awesome Would a cranberry in its figgy piggy mouth?

Omelet with sharp cheddar, leftover hot dogs, and Sriracha. Go ahead, Kim, translate that into French. And I’ll have a helping of that simple breakfast, if you don’t mind . . .

I hear you. I can add a couple of suggestions, although anyone who has seen me cook would laugh at me giving advice on how to cook quickly. In addition to DanM’s suggestions, Madhur Jaffrey Quick and Easy Indian Cooking (clicky)has some very nice recipes that can be made within 30 minutes. We have been crunched for time lately, so I have been buying frozen, peeled (or tail-on) shrimp when they go on sale. Toss the shrimp in the fridge to thaw the night before, refresh the shrimp in heavily-salted water while you prep, a quick stir-fry while the rice cooks, set out some raw veggies or salad greens, and call it dinner. My go-to shrimp stir-fry is some variation on Lee Wan Ching’s Sizzling Pepper and Salt Shrimp, from Breath of a Wok. Good luck!

Percival, I can almost feel the crunch on your Panko-fried shrimp. What was your dipping sauce? Shrimp fried rice, made with red curry paste, garlic, shallots, fish sauce, soy sauce, eggs, and chiles and Thai basil from the garden. Yup, it was leftover night. Served with limes, eternal cucumbers, tomatoes, scallions, and (after taking the picture) Sriracha and leftover broccoli and salad greens. Younger son gave the meal an 8 (the boys' scale goes from 10 down to negative infinity for certain vegetables ). Elder son went out to eat with friends, but asked me to save a portion for him.

I thought about poaching the chicken that way, but chickened (heh) out. If you try it, I would love to hear how it turns out, and how it compares to simmering for 30 minutes. I suspect that the key is the unspecified "measured amount of boiling stock."

Chicken fricassee, cacciatora style, from Marcella Hazan. Quoth elder son: "You should make this when we have people over for dinner" (presumably, instead of the Thai curries and Indian food that I prefer to make ). Linguine with garlic and sage, from the Great Garlic Book. Boys inhaled this. I received this book as a gift and haven't used it much, but this recipe and crawfish etoufee have been quite nice. Crusty French bread from the grocery store, and green salad.