C. sapidus

Thank you, Kim, you are gracious as always. Indian again tonight: grilled swordfish steaks with a spicy-mustardy marinade; masoor dal with Bengali 5-spices; Parsi cilantro-mint chutney (delicious!); eternal cucumbers; and basmati rice.

rarerollingobject, yum! Thanks! Rehydrated pasilla chiles rellenos sounds amazing. Hmm, probably no real substitutes for chile pasilla. I have seen dried New Mexico chiles listed as a substitute, but the flavor and color would be quite different. If you are familiar with ancho chiles (dried chile Poblano), pasillas are hotter, less fruity, and impart a uniquely addictive, almost smoky flavor. For an analogy with Asian chiles, picture something like mild Thai long chiles plus not-sweet black raisins, leather, and a whiff of smoked paprika. I ran across this quote while googling: “Imagine a mad scientist crossing a giant raisin with a mild, full bodied chile.” Good news, though - it looks like you can mail-order chile pasilla and other Mexican ingredients from MexGrocer.co.uk (click).

Beautiful salad, Prawncrackers. Jicama, watercress, and red onion salad, dressed with a roasted garlic and jalapeno balsamic vinaigrette. Chile pasilla picadillo Oaxaqueno on warm flour tortillas. Guacamole and a variety of salsas at the table.

Pasilla chile picadillo Oaxaqueno, based on a variation in Authentic Mexican. Warm flour tortillas, guacamole, and salsas at the table. To make the picadillo, saute onions, garlic, and ground (or chopped) pork until lightly browned. Blend and strain the sauce – pasilla chiles (toasted and soaked), tomatoes, canela, cloves, and black peppercorns. Simmer the pork mixture and sauce with raisins and vinegar. Mix in toasted almond slivers and serve on warm flour tortillas. The family asked for this again, but without the raisins. Edited to eliminate redundancy and eliminate redundancy.

Mmm, roasted Poblano peppers - that sounds so good! Indian dinner tonight: stir-fried shrimp in an aromatic tomato-cream sauce; long beans with mushrooms; and basmati rice. Both from Madhur Jaffrey’s Quick and Easy Indian Cooking. We had two extra teenage boys for dinner, and they cleaned their plates. Surprised the heck out of me.

Cultural mish-mosh meal tonight: Pim's braised five-spice chicken over spaghetti; and stir-fried green beans with black beans and garlic. The chicken didn’t look like much, but packed a lot of flavor.

Another Indian dinner tonight: chicken in onion tomato gravy (murgh masala); stir-fried okra (bhindi sabzi); cucumber and radish raita (kheera aur mooli ka raita); with flour tortillas standing in for chapati. Younger son was a chicken-eating machine tonight – he seems to have a taste for Indian food.

I purchased the smoked trout, which I assume was cold smoked. I would like to try hot-smoking trout in the bullet, but not on a weeknight. Hmm, barbecue and Thai salad sounds like a fun combination.

monavano, I am honored to be mentioned in the same breath as Ann_T when it comes to photography, so thank you very much! My old point-and-shoot camera would embarrass a real photographer. To reduce shake, I rest the camera on a side towel draped over any handy piece of kitchen equipment. The plate usually sits on the stovetop with the hood’s halogen lights turned to high. Pretty basic. Anyway, your groundnut stew reminds me of one of our favorite childhood dinners: Ghanaian groundnut chop. austramerica, thank you! sanaasol, great pictorial – I have your soup on my (long) list of things to make. dockhl, I will post the clam sauce recipe. What it lacks in fancy ingredients it compensates with sheer volume of butter and olive oil. ETA: red clam sauce recipe Indian dinner tonight: cream of spinach soup and garlic chicken tikka kebabs. The kitchen smelled amazing. For the soup, we sauteed onions and garlic in ghee, seasoned with cumin, cloves, nutmeg, and pepper, blended the onion mixture with cooked spinach and chicken stock, heated everything through with milk and cream, and finished the soup with lemon juice. Mrs. C enjoyed the soup, but we had to eat with the lights low because it reminded her of things she used to clean up at the hospital. Indian cream of spinach soup (palak shorva) For the kebabs, we marinated cubed chicken breast overnight in garlic paste, lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and ground cardamom, coriander, cumin, black pepper, and garam masala. The kebabs were grilled and finished with a glaze of melted ghee, lemon juice, dried fenugreek leaves, black salt, cumin, and chaat masala. Garlic chicken tikka kebabs

Red clam sauce Serves 4 as Main Dish. A friend gave us this recipe years ago, and it quickly became a family favorite. Don't skimp on the butter and olive oil. 1/4 c Olive oil 1/4 c Butter (1/2 stick) 1 Large clove garlic, minced 1/2 c Cold water 1 Bunch flat-leaf parsley, minced 1 tsp Kosher salt 1/2 tsp Oregano 1/4 tsp Ground black pepper 16 oz Tomato sauce 13 oz Canned minced clams 1-1/2 T Flour Melt butter and olive oil in a skillet. Add minced garlic and cook until the garlic is colored light gold. Turn off heat and let the skillet cool for a few minutes. Slowly stir cold water into the skillet until an emulsion forms. Stir in parsley, salt, oregano, and pepper. Add two cans of tomato sauce and bring the mixture to a boil. Simmer, stirring occasionally for 10 minutes. Drain the clam juice into a cup. Mix 1-1/2 Tbsp flour with the clam juice and stir well to form a slurry. Add the slurry to the sauce, stir well to thicken, and simmer for a few minutes. Add clams just before serving to prevent clams from getting tough. Keywords: Italian, Pasta ( RG2115 )

suzilightning, sweet potato with lime butter sounds intriguing – how did johnnybird like it? SanaaSol, I have been in the mood for a soup like that – do you have a recipe? Quick dinner last night: spaghettini with red clam sauce; and a salad of jicama, grape tomatoes, Bibb lettuce, blue cheese, and vinaigrette. For pre-dinner munching, we set out grapes and a plate of jicama slices and eternal cucumbers. When I was a kid, my best friend’s mother made this same red clam sauce, loaded with butter, olive oil, and parsley. I must have raved about it, so at Christmas my friend showed up at our house with a steaming pot of delicious clam sauce, his family’s gift to our family. This continued for a few Christmases before we finally asked for the recipe. Mom made the clam sauce properly once or twice, and then started reducing the butter and olive oil to make it “healthier.” It was never quite the same. Anyway, Mom recently e-mailed out the recipe. The red clam sauce tasted as good as I remembered, and the boys loved it. Tonight the boys enjoyed grilled ribeye steaks while the grownups enjoyed Thai smoked trout salad (clicky). Mrs. C had some ribeye, too, but I passed – I was hankering for flavor rather than fatty protein. Thai smoked trout salad

Smoked trout salad, from Thai Food. A “rustic salad from the north of Thailand,” this had wonderful medley of flavors and aromas from grill-roasted shallots, garlic, ginger, and apple eggplants; slivered red chiles and green mango; and large handfuls of mint and Thai basil. We tossed the salad with ground roasted rice and a dressing of lime juice, fish sauce, and sugar. Substitutions: ginger for galangal, and smoked trout for smoked catfish. Smoked trout salad (pla pla lom kwan)

I am sure that we had them on vacation. We grew seasoning peppers one year, but have never had much luck with long-season chiles in the habanero family. Many Caribbean dishes use seasoning peppers with lots of fresh herbs in marinades (e.g. “green seasoning”). These dishes often have a wonderfully complex "I'm not sure what's in it but I like it" flavor.

We coordinate a group order from Chileplants.com every year. With friends, co-workers, and family members involved, the minimum order is not a problem. A friend from Trinidad usually orders Tobago Seasoning and Trinidad Perfume. I prefer chiles with a shorter time to maturity, but length of growing season shouldn't be a problem in your area. Thanks for the reminder - I need to start putting our chile and tomato list together.

What about chile plants? The National Herb Garden (click) at the U.S. National Arboretum uses chile plants as an edible/ornamental element. The plants are quite beautiful, especially when laden with multi-colored fruits. Some even have bronzy-purply leaves, beautifully contrasting with bright red chiles. It sounds like you will have a beautiful edible garden.

Kim Shook and jmahl, beautiful! I need to try those baked eggs. Three egg omelet, seasoned with ancho chile powder and smoked paprika. Filled and topped with feta cheese and pickled red jalapeno chiles, and sauced with leftovers from the chipotle meatballs. A co-worker grew and pickled the jalapenos, and we will be very sad when the last are gone.

Ce’nedra, thank you! The chipotle-tomato sauce was definitely spicy, but I thought it needed something. Next time I will probably jazz it up with onions, tomatillos, or perhaps some warm spices like cinnamon and cloves. This was my first time making meatballs in a food processor. We only have a mini-processor, which I overloaded and consequently overprocessed the meatballs, so the texture wasn’t the best. Live and learn. Your siu mai, OTOH, look nice and delicate. How did you like the jicama in your siu mai – did it stay crunchy?

SanaaSol, thank you! Tonight we made chicken with holy basil and jasmine rice. The boys liked the chicken (well, except for the basil . . .), but it wasn’t my favorite version – the flavors were a bit too gentle. We also made grilled shrimp salad with green mango and Thai emeralds dressing. I love the combination of sweet shrimp, sour mango, fresh mint, crunchy Romaine lettuce, with the dressing of lime juice, fish sauce, cilantro stems, bird chiles, brown sugar, and lots of garlic, all whizzed up in the blender.

Tossed salad with Romaine lettuce, cucumbers, red bell peppers, and jicama. Asiago cheese bread (store-bought). Chipotle meatballs.

Kim Shook, glad you liked the cabbage! Ce’nedra, thanks! Nice soup, too, it is good to see you posting again. Ann_T, beautiful dinners as always, and broccoli flan sounds intriguing. We made flank steak satay with red curry peanut sauce, cucumber salad, and jasmine rice.

I have not tried the recipe in “All About Braising”, but the beef rendang in Cradle of Flavor is amazing. You will find some compelling testimonials in Cooking with Cradle of Flavor, one recipe at a time (click). Rendang is like barbecue - it is done when it is done - so start cooking way ahead of time. Fortunately, rendang tastes even better when made ahead and gently reheated. Good luck! In rendang, the coconut milk is reduced to coconut oil and solids, so it does not taste anything like raw coconut.

For good eats a little further south, check out Rockville, Maryland restaurants, What’s there to like on the Pike?.

So..... could you just post your address again. I think there are a pack of us ready to GPS it and we'll be there for one of those leftover breakfasts of champions. ← Heidi, darn it, did I forget to post my address? If you are coming over, get here quickly - the few leftovers will be consumed within the hour (and thanks for the kind words!). ETA: All gone. The curry tasted even better after the flavor intensified overnight. I could see making the curry ahead of time, and adding the seafood to cook just before serving. The bean sprouts held their crunch pretty well. Adding a little fish sauce somehow brought out the roasted coconut flavor.

Rick Bayless has a few crock pot recipes in Mexican Everyday. Here is one that we have made: slow-cooked achiote pork (cochinita pibil). Mexican pulled pork, cooked inside banana leaves and topped with lime-marinated red onions. You can also make it with chicken.

Maryland farms have wonderful pick-your-own strawberries (click). Unfortunately, strawberries either taste good or ship well, but not both.