C. sapidus

Culture clash dinner: Cari ga: Vietnamese chicken curry with sweet potatoes and carrots. The gravy, rich with coconut milk and fragrant with shallots, garlic, lime leaves and lemongrass, somehow reminded Mrs. C of a korma. The chicken was rubbed with curry powder, salt, and sugar before browning. This recipe, from Curry Cuisine, will definitely be made again. Ghee rice: Basmati rice, steamed and tossed with ghee and salt. Ghee was probably overkill since the curry sauce was so rich. Spinach with brown butter and walnuts: Leftover from earlier in the week. A little salt brought out the brown butter flavor nicely.

I did this the other day, totally by accident. I dumped too many mushrooms in the pan and watched them swim in their own liquid, but kept cooking them down until the liquid disappeared and the mushrooms browned. I was quite surprised to see the mushrooms turn out so nicely, and I am even more surprised that it took centuries for this method to be documented. We were just talking about that this evening. I think that dry-cooking mushrooms yields more of a roasty flavor, but I have never compared the two methods side by side.

Chorizo omelet

Heidi, it sounds like your wedding reception would make a much more entertaining photoessay. I forgot my camera, but there were lots of pictures of the chapel, friends and relatives, wedding cake, happy couple, yadda yadda, but none of the food. People really need to get their priorities straight.

Maggie, that is my favorite kind of party - participatory! :laugh: Thank you for the kind words, Scubadoo and Badiane, but I was definitely the one learning. The chef had assembled a crew from SE Asia, so they all knew their stuff. I was most impressed with the cook manning the grill station. He turned out perfectly-cooked sate, probably the best I have ever eaten, while working in almost complete darkness out in the alley. I was also fascinated to get a (very) small taste of what it is like to work in a restaurant kitchen. Great fun, but I am happy to remain a home cook.

Yo, what happened to all the other cooks around here? Anyway, another main course from Curry Cuisine: coconut fish curry, served with turmeric rice, sliced kohlrabi, sliced daikon, and radishes.

I cooked from a Christmas present – Curry Cuisine – tonight. Both recipes turned out nicely, although I will use more cashew paste in the korma next time. Mrs. C cut up sweet jicama and a buttery avocado for vegetable matter. Edit: missing word South Indian chicken korma and ghee rice

Last night we made a big batch of manchamanteles (“tablecloth stainer”). Half went to a chile cook-off at work, and half stayed home for dinner. Ancho and guajillo chiles provided heat; onions, garlic, canela, cloves, and black pepper lent aroma; pineapple, fried plantains, and cider vinegar added a sweet-sour tang; and ground peanuts, sesame seeds, and dried bread thickened the sauce. For meat, we used chunks of pork butt, chicken thighs, and fried chorizo. I set up the crock pot at the cook-off, but I was tied up in a meeting and missed most of the tasting. About half-way through the tasting I stepped out of the meeting to check on the manachamanteles, but it had completely disappeared. I suppose that was a good sign. The remainder disappeared at dinner, accompanied by rice and fried plantains. I always choose the blackest, mushiest (and sweetest) plantains at the Latino market. As is often the case, they give me a free plantain or two for taking the “bad” ones off their hands. Win-win. Manchamanteles

Snowangel recommended the recipe for Northern Mexical barbacoa (a variation on Birria Jalisciense from Mexican Everyday). The family loved the dish, and food was on the table quickly. Thanks, Susan, good tip! This morning I set up the slow cooker with chuck roast, potato wedges, and a spice paste of garlic, cumin, black pepper, vinegar, and freshly-toasted and ground guajillo and mulato chiles. This evening we defatted and reduced the sauce, and then garnished the barbacoa with chopped white onion, cilantro, and lime wedges. We also made guacamole in the mortar and pestle, a.k.a. Thai molcajete . (now that I am posting, I notice that menuinprogress made a similar recipe just upthread ) Edit: splelgin

Lots of beautiful meals upthread and a few shout-outs: scubadoo97, your description and picture made my mouth water. djyee100, that sounds absolutely delicious. Kim, too funny! We cooked bay scallops in spinach-tomato curry sauce, enriched with coconut milk and seasoned with cayenne, cumin, coriander, turmeric, black pepper, mustard, mustard seed, garlic, and ginger. Served with turmeric rice garnished with sliced scallions and aromatic with cloves, cardamom, cinnamon, bay leaf, and garlic. Mrs. C. roasted kohlrabi with garlic, which turned the vegetable deliciously sweet. We had a guest for dinner so I had hoped to take a picture of the leftovers, but everything disappeared.

Now that holiday meals are done, let's see some Thai food! A month without a new post here is way too long. Tonight we fried red curry paste and yellow curry powder in butter, added chicken thighs, and then simmered in a gravy of milk, water, fish sauce, chopped tomatoes, and a little sugar. Served with jasmine rice and a topping of shallots fried in butter. Another good weeknight recipe from Thailand the Beautiful Cookbook. Burmese chicken curry

Have you ever had the opportunity to be part of two worlds at the same event? I had this experience recently. I was guest at a wedding reception, and the chef let me help in the kitchen (wearing my suit and tie, of course ). Nothing too heroic was required of me -- I chopped up some root vegetables ahead of time, learned how to soften rice paper and roll spring rolls, ran a few minor errands, distributed a tray of hors d’oeuvres, and helped bus tables as the party was winding down. Still, some people seemed quite confused to see a fellow guest helping the “help”. As an aside, the food was delicious. The chef prepared a variety of SE Asian-influenced delicacies. I particularly enjoyed the hors d’oeuvres: tender and flavorful lamb sate; martabak telor (spiced chicken and egg in flaky flatbread); bo la lot (grilled spiced minced beef wrapped in betel leaves); tia to shrimp (grilled minced shrimp with aromatics); Vietnamese spring rolls (my contribution); and some killer dipping sauces. Definitely some of the best food I have ever eaten at a wedding. Anyway, it was fascinating and rewarding. Has anyone else had this sort of experience?

I’d like a nibble of each of your breakfasts, please. Odds-and-ends breakfast: plantains fried in butter and olive oil; Spanish chorizo and apricot Stilton. Coffee.

Beautiful food, all! The family ate out while I worked late, so I had free reign to improvise dinner-for-one when I finally arrived home. Rummaging through the larder yielded frozen shrimp, a variety of chiles, ginger, limes, shallots, coconut milk, green curry paste, coconut milk, fish sauce, palm sugar, rice vinegar, jasmine rice, and (of course) a cucumber. After harvesting a few leaves from our potted lime tree, dinner was served: Green curry shrimp, cucumber salad, and jasmine rice. Ahhh.

Sorry, I missed this question. We used pork loin and bacon (because I have yet to find a good source for non-baconized pork belly around here). I could see smoked ham working very nicely, too. Susan, thanks for relating your experience with the dong'an chicken. What was the texture that you didn't like?

Bruce, I say give it a go. Given the quantity, and the fact that is lightly stir-fryed, it's more of a vegetable component than the typical use of cilantro as a garnish or touch. I trust your recommendations, Susan, so I will try to work this recipe in. Perhaps a Friday night when elder son skips dinner to hang out with his buds at the football game. Well yes, but I do aim to please. Anyway, we copied Nakji's meal upthread -- farmhouse stir-fried pork with green peppers. All of the recipes with fermented black beans have been huge hits with the family. We used a mix of Poblano and Anaheim chiles, none of which had any heat to speak of so the dish was quite popular. This is a perfect quick weeknight meal, served with jasmine rice and a salad.

Erin, thank you. I would expect pork shoulder to be delicious in that recipe. Susan, I have not yet tried the beef and cilantro. The recipe looks great, but we would need a meal when both cilantrophobic boys were safely elsewhere.

Prawn, that’s some gorgeous food. Thai-style steamed fish with garlic, shallots, chiles, galangal, lime leaves, lime juice, tamarind juice, white pepper, and fish sauce. No whole fish so we used tilapia fillets and reduced the cooking time. Another hit from Thailand the Beautiful Cookbook. Mrs. C cooked fresh lima beans and then tossed them with lemon juice and oil. Coconut rice to round out the meal.

Yes, we have done this (but not with tangerines from our own garden - lucky you). According to Fuchsia Dunlop in Land of Plenty, you can dry the peel of mandarin oranges or tangerines by . . . Anyway, tonight’s main course was from RCC: Slow-braised beef with potatoes (p. 106): A beautifully marbled piece of chuck roast finished meltingly tender. I removed the dried chiles at the 90-minute mark when capsaicin levels reached the family’s tolerance. Baby red potatoes were sliced in half, fried in a mix of peanut oil and bacon grease, and then added to the braise for the last 30 minutes or so. I cannot think of a more delightful aroma than beef braising with ginger, cassia cinnamon, star anise, and chiles. Served with a crusty baguette (for sopping up the sauce) and a Thai stir-fry of yard-long beans with sliced pork loin and egg.

Thank you, Erin. Besides the two dishes mentioned above (cumin beef, and Farmhouse stir-fried pork with green peppers), here are our favorites from RCC: Liuyang black bean chicken (p. 124): absolutely delicious. Slow-braised beef with potatoes (p. 106): absolutely delicious. I lowered the oven temperature to 275F to keep the meat tender. Farmhouse stir-fried pork with green peppers (p. 85): a quick family favorite Tangerine Island dry-braised fish (p. 158): excellent with Thai basil instead of purple perilla leaves. Fragrant-and-hot tiger prawns (p. 175): delicious! Fisherman’s shrimp with Chinese chives (p. 177): very good, easy. Might add ginger next time. Red-braised bream (p. 156) Good with tilapia. Stir-fried mixed mushrooms (p. 211): very good. Stir-fried water spinach stems with black beans and chiles (p. 219): I have never seen water spinach in the store, but this is excellent with spinach or similar greens. Red-braised winter-cold mushrooms (p. 231) Stir-fried peppers with black beans and garlic (p. 201): a family favorite, works with many different vegetables. Also good: Yellow-cooked salt cod in chili sauce (p. 160): good, but watch the salt Chicken with ginger (p. 130): not bad, quite easy. Quick-fried lamb (p. 107) Stir-fried green peppers with ground pork and preserved greens (p. 200): We usually make this with yard-long beans or green beans, and occasionally Mexican chorizo instead of minced pork. Hand-torn cabbage with vinegar (p. 217): vinegary, simple, and pretty good. Chicken soup with cloud ears and ginger (p. 248) Not-so-successful recipes (always possible that I goofed something up, of course): Steamed chicken with chopped salted chiles (p. 123): I found this very one-dimensional, but perhaps my chopped salted chiles were the wrong type. Numbing-and-hot chicken (p. 127): Relatively labor intensive, tasted like a not-fully-committed Sichuan dish. Stir-fried bitter melon with Chinese chives (p. 208): yowza, bitter! Purple seaweed and egg “flower” soup (p. 242): didn’t do it for me. Edited to fix goofed-up quote

Shrimp steamed with mustard seeds – Tender shrimp with an intensely mustardy sauce (containing ground black mustard seeds, mustard oil, onion, and turmeric), backed by a touch of chile heat. I found this delightful; certain family members were less enthusiastic. Basmati rice with peas and dill – This was much more popular. A pullao/pilaf with cloves, cardamom, garam masala, and fried onion, cooked with chicken stock. Eternal cucumbers and sliced avocados for vegetables.

I hope the price comes down, but this book is definitely on my list. Thanks for linking the interview, which was very funny. I appreciate Mr. Thompson's rare combination of obsessiveness and humor.

Blether, thank you for the kind words. Nothing special with the light – I just put the plate on the cooktop, turn the hood lights on high, and snap away with my point-and-shoot camera. The hood does have halogen lights, so perhaps that helps. Mmmmm, clam soup for breakfast sounds brilliant.

Beautiful breakfasts all, with a particular shout-out to Ann_T’s eggs in a cloud. This morning a very small amount of banh mi leftovers (unfortunately, not including any char siu pork) became a personal-sized batch of fried rice. Served with limes and Sriracha. Liver pate fried rice with roasted chile paste and daikon-carrot pickle

Nakji, that pork stir-fry is a family favorite and yours looks delish. For tonight's dinner, we made other family favorites from RCC: Beef with cumin (zi ran niu rou). Using Thai chiles from the garden provided plenty of zip to go with the lovely flavors. Jasmine rice to tame the chile heat. Stir-fried peppers with black beans and garlic (qing jiao suan cai rou ni). We used a mix of red bell peppers and Poblano chiles from the garden, deep-frying the peppers in the hot oil used to deep-fry the marinated beef. Not sure if this was why, but the peppers turned out particularly well.