C. sapidus

Thank you, Klary. The spinach was not cooked in the pan, just tossed with the warm dressing. Of course, the retained heat from a smoking-hot cast iron skillet made the dressing pretty *warm*. Chris, your stir-fry looks and sounds delicious, and kudos on your relentlessly uniform pork matchsticks (even if you cheated by using a meat slicer ). Uniformly shaped objects do facilitate stir-frying, and I like the texture. Compared with chunks, matchsticks have more surface upon which the glaze can glom. Nakji, what about combining garlic scapes with long beans (or would garlic scapes give a nice crunchy texture by themselves)?

Shelby – beautiful color on your bird. Skirt steak salad with wilted spinach, sun-dried tomato, and avocado, from Mexican Everyday. To make the warm dressing, we deglazed the pan with with garlic, canned chipotles, key lime juice, and olive oil. The dressing, meat juices, cubed avocado, and grated pecorino Romano cheese combined into a sublime mixture. Mexican white rice (arroz blanco) completed the meal but failed to sneak into the picture. Elder son came home hungry from basketball practice and devoured two pan-fried T-bone steaks. And rice. *sigh* I remember being able to eat like that.

We made a rare foray into Italian food tonight - parmesan-crusted striped bass fillets (a la Milanaise), topped with a quick tomato-basil sauce. I whizzed up pesto for spaghettini, and Mrs. C sauteed peas with prosciutto, both from Marcella Hazan. The boys liked everything except the pesto, so they reverted to topping their pasta with ketchup. Grandma made cheesecake for dessert. I know what I’m having for breakfast!

Yes! Callinectes sapidus, scientific Latin for tasty beautiful swimmer.

Thank you for a lovely week, Ilana. I truly appreciate the window into your busy life and the tour of Israel’s vibrant food scene. In your spare time (heh), please do consider sharing your savory exploits with those of us on the “other side” of eGullet. But for now, take a well-deserved break.

Beautiful, flaky biscuits - probably even better with mimosas. Oh, my - I feel like I should avert my eyes or something. Last night’s leftovers for breakfast: braised pork riblets with Vietnamese caramel sauce; swordfish satay with coconut milk-based peanut sauce; and buttered home-made bread. Unfortunately, none of the pictures quite captured what a darned tasty meal this was, either fresh last night or microwaved this morning.

tupac17616, beautiful (and delicious-sounding) mussels. Kim Shook, dang, you really did some “out and out” cooking! Mrs. C and Grandma made white bread, which we snacked on all afternoon and enjoyed with dinner, which was basically appetizers: Thai-style swordfish satay, from Fish & Shellfish. We marinated swordfish cubes with Thai chiles, garlic, shallots, sugar, lime, and fish sauce. Quickly grilled and served with peanut sauce, this was meltingly tender, juicy, and delicious. Pork riblets braised in caramel sauce, adapted from All About Braising. The boys intercepted quite a few of the falling-off-the-bone ribs before they reached the table. The sauce needed something, so I reduced it with dark soy sauce and Chinkiang vinegar. Braised leeks with bacon and thyme, from All About Braising. Not bad, but probably better if I had remembered to add butter. Edited for clarity.

Good luck with the move! Enjoy the new kitchen and take lots of pictures when you get settled in.

Klary, no surprise but I second Peter and Mark’s Asian suggestions (especially Thai meat salads with citrus segments or apple eggplants and crushed peanuts and . . .). We usually have shrimp in the freezer, so we often default to salt and pepper shrimp when friends turn up unexpectedly. Having friends help peel the shrimp promotes a sense of shared purpose. Yep, that’s what we tell them. You have more options if the get-together is planned, of course. Steamed, stir-fried, or sauteed seafood can produce a quick and delicious meal. I love to find at least one dish that our guests will enjoy, but that they have never tried before. Giving friends the gift of a new favorite dish makes the occasion special. I am hardly one to give you dessert advice, but Campton Place hot chocolate (click) is delicious and easy. Exploit the shared purpose angle again by having your friends grate the chocolate.

Thank you, Heidi. Ahh, we didn't think of toasting the nuts - that would have been even better. Regarding "health experts": we are talking about a salad full of spinach, how healthy can you get?

Mrs. C and grandma made a delightful salad with spinach, tomatoes, slivered carrots, cucumbers, pecans, walnuts, blue cheese, and raspberry vinaigrette. I adore the combination of blue cheese, nuts, and a fruity salad dressing. Continuing the scallop theme, I sauteed bay scallops a la Provence (dredged in flour and sauteed with parsley and mashed garlic). The scallops turned out sweet and tender, but next time I will cook them in two batches for a better crust. Served with Italian bread to sop up the sauce.

Pierogi, congrats on the bread and biscuits. Tonight's dinner: pork, stir-fried with bacon, Poblano chiles, red bell peppers, garlic, fermented black beans, and fish sauce. Broccolini, blanched and stir-fried with garlic, fish sauce, and fermented bean paste. Jasmine rice. Returning from basketball practice, elder son complained that “his shirt smelled like dinner.”

Emily, I almost made green rice so we were definitely on the same wavelength. Apparently, some folks prefer carnitas in big chunks and some prefer shredded carnitas – more crispy surface area in the latter. Doddie, I was reading the carnitas thread and saw the lovely batch that you made.

Not BG, but I can answer this one. Mexico City = Ciudad de Mexico, D.F.. The abbreviation D.F. stands for distrito federal (federal district) according to Wikepedia (click). Like Washington, D.C., Mexico City is a city as well as a federal district. Perhaps you will find a carnitas recipe that you like in the eight-page thread titled "Carnitas" (click). I am also hoping that Blissful Glutton gets time to visit.

Doddie, Billy looks dangerously close to violating the advice to “never eat anything bigger than your head.” Two firsts tonight: carnitas and ganache (no, not in the same dish). Dinner was pork carnita tacos with guacamole, salsa, and home-made corn tortillas. Pork shoulder simmering with onions, garlic, chiles, and Mexican oregano makes a wonderful air freshener. Details on Making Mexican at Home. For dessert we made “Campton Place hot chocolate” (click). The boys declared it “too chocolaty”. As if.

Stephanie, your dinner party sounds great. I hope you had a chance to take pictures. Tonight we made pork carnita tacos, guacamole, and salsa roja picante from Cocina de la Familia, served with home-made corn tortillas. We simmered cubes of pork shoulder with onions, garlic, pickled Serrano chiles, and Mexican oregano, and finished the carnitas in a hot oven with orange juice, orange zest, black pepper, and Coca-Cola. Good stuff, even it I overfilled my taco.

If you like Mexican flavors, try shrimp (fish, zucchini, etc.) with garlic and lime - see camarones al mojo de ajo. If you like Thai food, there are tons of garlic-laden dishes such as stir-fried chicken with holy basil - see gai pad grapao. If Korean food appeals to you, perhaps Doddie or Peter Green could chime in with some ultra-garlicky recommendations. We routinely go through two or three garlic cloves when cooking a Mexican or Asian dinner. Edit: not cloves, heads of garlic. Two or three cloves is what falls on the floor, unnoticed except by the dogs.

She grows a variety of chiles, so unfortunately the seeds would be cross-pollinated.

Our friend from Trinidad orders Trinidad Seasoning and Trinidad Perfume plants from Cross Country Nurseries every spring. They sell plants rather than seeds. Good luck! ETA: Whoops, just realized that a U.S. source might not work for you. Sorry.

Mmm, Reuben. Russian dressing or Thousand Island? Marcia, I hope that comforting chicken soup cures the stomach bug. Mrs. C requested tuna, so we pan-seared tuna steaks, topped with ginger-lime dipping sauce (from Into the Vietnamese Kitchen). Green salad with balsamic vinaigrette and leftover Mexican rice completed the meal.

Thank you very much, Stephanie! Here is the recipe - jicama salad with lime-cilantro dressing. I hope you like it more than Susan liked my other recommendation.

Susan, I am so sorry to have steered you wrong. The last time we made that dish we jazzed it up with Thai basil and some other stuff, and it was delectable - poblano beef tips (post 20186). We did use ribeye, so maybe the dish needs a good fat-laden steak?

Pescado al mojo de ajo con calabacitas, with roasted Poblano chile strips. Another good 'un from Mexican Everyday.

After a week out of town I can’t possibly comment on all of the beautiful dinners, but percyn’s scallops and MiFi’s carnitas and steak salad jumped out and grabbed me by the taste buds. Last night we went to a restaurant for crab cakes, cream of crab soup, and steaks – our way of thanking grandma and aunt for watching da boyz. Tonight we cooked Mexican red rice (arroz rojo – not pictured) and catfish sauteed with zucchini, garlic, lime, cilantro, and roasted Poblano chiles (Pescado al mojo de ajo con calabacitas).

What to do with leftover coconut milk? Skim the cream, reduce, and make pseudo-Thai curry sauce with nam prik pao, fish sauce, and palm sugar. Mix the remaining coconut milk liquid into a two-egg omelet. Top with chiles, scallions, and cilantro. Serve with eternal cucumbers and Mayer lemon wedges.