C. sapidus

JGM: Do you have a grill? If so, I enthusiastically second Peter Green’s recommendation. Thai-style grilled meat salads are our go-to summer meal. Rick Bayless has lots of main-dish salads in Mexican Everyday (click). What about grilled summer produce – grilled sweet corn, grilled zucchini, grilled tomatoes and garlic for salsa? Grilled pineapple for dessert? Summer tomato and cucumber salad? Raita with shredded cucumbers and mint? Guacamole? I hope some of these ideas are helpful.

A few years ago, Midwest served very good food on their flights. I had lobster tail once, and dessert was always gooey-melty chocolate chip cookies.

I seriously doubt that we have ever spent more than $70 per person for dinner with wine (and spending that much is quite rare). Super-expensive meals are like cocaine - if it is that good, I would rather remain ignorant.

Brenda: Thank you! No worries, nothing to forgive. Avoid sharp objects if you must, but keep using the keyboard. Shaya: Good luck with your move, and we will be patient waiting for pictures. Tap. Tap. Tap . . . Tonight we made roasted Poblano-potato salad with blue cheese and grilled NY strip steak, a riff from Rick Bayless’ Mexican Everyday. The mix of flavors was wonderful, but Mrs. C wanted more texture (I forgot the lettuce ). The boys gamely tried some, but the blue cheese and cilantro drove them back to their steak and cucumbers.

Klary: Dang, where to start? Silly question – obviously, start with the monkfish in chipotle mayo and fried plantains. More, please! Wendy: Wait, you had dinner with Shaya and her family and failed to document fully? We wuz robbed! Brenda: Even it I were a competitive sort (which I am not), I would definitely not throw down against Chufi. Anyway, cooking seems like a cooperative rather than a competitive activity. Tonight we made stir-fried shrimp with chile-tamarind sauce, a larb-influenced salad, jasmine rice, and cucumbers. Kamikazes for dessert. We were expecting a dinner guest, but she had to work late so we packed up the leftovers and took them over to her at work. Well, except for the shrimp.

Joe: Beautiful! ETA: David Ross: Oh, those scallops. Tonight we made Nyonya-style spiced fried chicken, Nyonya dipping sauce, and jasmine rice (details on the Cradle of Flavor thread). We also enjoyed a salad of watercress, romaine lettuce, ripe tomatoes, and pine nuts with Riesling vinaigrette. This was my first time frying chicken. No hot-oil burns and I avoided burning down the house. Yee-ha!

Shelby: Welcome to breakfast – yum! Brenda: Now that looks like a more traditional Southern spread. We took the day off work and had a family day out and about. For fuel, I made an omelet with a big dollop of chile-tamarind paste, coconut milk, shallots, garlic, fish sauce, and cilantro. Sent me off with a warm glow.

Robin: I am glad that you liked the chuan-chuan. Sorry, I am no help with PNW fish. Any luck at the Asian market? Tonight we made Nyonya-style spiced fried chicken (inche kabin), Nyonya dipping sauce, and jasmine rice. This was worth making just for the wonderful aroma of frying cinnamon, coriander, cumin, fennel, black pepper, and shallots. I went light on the chiles; since no one complained that the chicken was too spicy I will use more chiles next time. The tangy Nyonya dipping sauce (Worchestershire sauce, lime juice, soy sauce, sugar, and red chile) complemented the chicken nicely. This was my first time frying chicken. I do not have a thermometer, but used Mr. Oseland’s bread trick to guess when the oil had reached the proper temperature and adjusted from there. The first batch (pictured below) was a little dark but the second batch turned out quite nicely. One tricky part was “gently squeezing each piece to remove excess liquid” from the raw chicken without removing all of the marinade. For some reason, this worked better with thighs than with drumsticks. Nyonya-style spiced fried chicken

Thanks, Brenda. If you keep posting pictures of beautiful pho, you will force me to either drive thirty miles to the nearest pho restaurant or learn to make pho at home. We had a Thai meal with local sides: fried striped bass fillets with chile-tamarind sauce; jasmine rice; sweet corn; and an unpictured salad of tomatoes, lettuce, cabbage, and shaved parmesan.

Tonight we enjoyed fried striped bass with chile-tamarind sauce from True Thai, served with jasmine rice, sweet corn, and salad. The recipe called for a whole striped bass, but we found thick fillets and reduced the frying time accordingly. Any one of Jamie Lee’s "herbs" (whatever they turn out to be) would probably have topped this dish nicely. The delicious sauce, served on the side, contained chile-tamarind paste for spice and tang; garlic, scallions, and cilantro for aroma; red bell peppers and sugar for sweetness; chicken stock for body; and of course fish sauce for salt. We will definitely make the sauce again. Pla kaphong tod lad na nam phrik pao

Hard to tell - try comparing the leaves with pictures of basil or perilla on Gernot Katzer's web site.

I love the death-defying adventures, the fresh-from-the-water seafood, the rugged shoreline, and the kitchen tour. I am tickled by the Slivovic (a.k.a. “Serbian truth serum”) which featured prominently in several wild bachelor parties back in the day. Have you lived in your house for long? Where is the kitchen island in relation to your range? The view of oceangoing ships from your window reminds me of Michigan, a thousand miles inland. Relatives live on the St. Clair River, and huge rusty freighters cruise by just outside their living room window. When swimming in the river, we were advised to look out for the freighters because "they won't stop." I would love to visit Maine and sample its fine seafood. A cousin is building a retirement home in the Maine woods, so that will be a good excuse to visit. Can one find good Maine seafood inland, or must one stay near the coast? Blog on - I will be sorry to see this end.

Bill: Good luck cooking your interesting finds! Gabriel: Thanks for the information on the sauce and fish balls. I have been eyeing that green curry, so your recommendation will push it up the list. Tonight we made chicken with red chile and cashews from True Thai. This was a Chinese stir-fry with Thai flavors. With twelve cloves of garlic, dried chiles, onions, scallions, chicken stock, oyster sauce, fish sauce, palm sugar, and chile-tamarind paste (nam phrik pao), the sauce cooked down to a delicious spicy-syrupy glaze. Good stuff. As often happens, bedlam erupted while I was stir-frying the chicken. I goofed up the timing, so the chicken turned out nicely but the scallions were mushy. Somehow, the five minutes that I need to concentrate on a hot wok seems to attract chaos. Kai phat met ma muang

andyb: Welcome, and thanks for sharing two beautiful meals. Marcia: Your fritters and adovada look like a nice distraction from house-selling. Tonight we stir-fried chicken two ways. The picture shows Thai chicken with red chile and cashews, garnished with Thai basil. Fearing that this would be too spicy for the boys, I marinated a second batch of chicken in soy sauce and random jars from the spice cupboard – smoked paprika, white pepper, garlic powder, and dried lemongrass, if I recall. This was a huge hit with the target audience. Served with jasmine rice, cukes, and salad.

Beautiful meals all around, with a special shout-out for the salmon ceviche and all of the gorgeous tomatoes. Tonight we made a Vietnamese pork stir-fry, jasmine rice, and a tomato and cucumber salad. We marinated thinly-sliced pork shoulder in fish sauce and sugar, and then stir-fried the pork with garlic and lemongrass. With bowls of nuoc cham, chopped cilantro, and mint on the side, this was simple and satisfying.

John Dennison (johnnyd) in Maine?

Gabriel: Thank you! Glad to have you back on line, both for the food (all of which look wonderful) and for the sage advice. It took me a while to figure out the grilled catfish – at first glance I thought the slashes were the spiky teeth of some prehistoric lizard jaw. How did you make the sweet/hot/sour sauce? Also, I have never made fish balls - how involved is the process? Part of tonight’s dinner was from True Thai – grilled shrimp salad with green mango and Thai emeralds dressing (yam kung pao kap mamuang). The salad included slivered green mango, shallots, and mint. The “Thai emeralds dressing” added mashed cilantro stems to our usual mixture of garlic, chiles, lime juice, fish sauce, and palm sugar.

Prawncrackers: Crab and chorizo – two of my favorite things in the universe, together at last. Percyn: Thanks! Beautiful lobster roll, and I think we have the same cutting board. Tonight we made grilled shrimp salad with green mango and Thai emeralds dressing (Yam kung pao kap mamuang), and spicy tamarind shrimp. Elder son made the basmati rice, and of course we had cucumbers. The boys preferred the grilled shrimp, which were simply skewered and grilled in their shells. No seasoning, just shrimp. I can see that becoming a regular summer meal.

Glorious pictures indeed, and thanks for posting this. I occasionally make baklava the old-fashioned way, but easy baklava sounds dangerous! I hope you don't mind a few questions: 1. How does the taste/texture compare to baklava made by the traditional brush-butter-on-each-sheet method? 2. Why use a mixture of margarine and butter rather than just butter? By the way, boiling the syrup with cinnamon, cloves, lemon zest, etc. makes for a particularly delicious baklava.

Mark, I am absolutely drooling at the rijsttafel pictures and can’t wait to hear your commentary. Yard-long beans and kouseband seem to be the same thing, with the scientific name of Vigna unguiculata subsp. sesquipedalis. Plant trivia: yard-long beans are usually harvested at about a foot and a half (sesquipedalis in Latin). According to this website (click) yard-long beans are “a favorite of the Surinam kitchen.” And so it goes full circle. Sandy, your knowledge of the food business is comprehensive, but we found the sambals at an Asian market. Our family shopped at Giant Food since I was a wee lad, but unfortunately their stores – especially the produce section – have gone downhill since Royal Ahold’s takeover. We now drive past Giant to shop elsewhere.

MizD: Caveat: I am probably the last person on the planet to give advice about cooking "plain" food. However. If you have time to make a separate meal for yourself, will E try a taste if it looks non-threatening? If so, some lightly-seasoned Vietnamese dishes might not be too far outside E's comfort zone. Perhaps a toned-down version of kho (caramel-braised chicken, salmon, or pork), or even better, a not-so-garlicky garlicky oven-roasted chicken (ga ro-ti). You did not mention a grill, but I wonder if E would like veggies that had been lightly marinated and broiled, or perhaps broiled fruit (or butternut squash) with a sweet glaze for dessert. Keep on making the world a better place, one meal at a time.

Clarias are apparently species of SE Asian catfish. The can looked something like this (link to Importfood.com). I like to keep cans of fish or eel in chile sauce around for a quick protein breakfast when we don't have suitable leftovers. Sure, spicy dishes are perfect when it is blazing hot. Or freezing cold. Or anywhere in between!

Are you familiar with the eG Culinary Institute course on Basic Knife Skills? The method for "mincing a shallot" works nicely. If a uniformly fine dice is needed, I use the technique shown for dicing an onion, except I find it easier and safer to do the horizontal cut first. If the middle of the shallot keeps slipping out, you might want to peel off one more outer layer or check out Chad's Knife Maintenance and Sharpening course.

Brenda: Pho for breakfast – I am insanely jealous! Have you mentioned your breakfast habits to the neighbors? Bill: Buttermilk pie sounds like just the thing under the circumstances. I spent the morning with the dishwasher repairman, and I fervently hope that his latest effort have fixed our problematic Whirlpool for the next decade or so. With time on my hands, I emptied out the produce drawers with a highly experimental batch of fried rice. I cracked coconut cream and fried Thai chiles, garlic, ginger, red bell pepper, chile jam, tamarind, and palm sugar. When the bell peppers began to soften I added the mushrooms and rice, and then scrambled in an egg. Off the heat, I seasoned with Thai basil, mint leaves, scallions, and fish sauce. Topped with a can of “fried clarias fish with chilli” and served with a lime wedge. Spicy!

First, best wishes to Mara for a speedy recovery. This has been a particularly enjoyable blog so far, and I am looking forward to the rest of your week. Your discursive writing rewards close reading, and I both enjoy and envy your fantastic international markets. The cooking of Surinam seems to have strong similarities to that of Trinidad, as described by a friend from that island. So much of what you have described is surprising and/or revelatory – the fascinating history of the Indische kitchen, the lack of jalapenos in Amsterdam, the demographics of Suriname, and the availability of the same brands of Indonesian sambals in Amsterdam and Maryland. I noticed what looks like yard-long beans – one of my favorite veggies – at Toko Hangalampoe. Do you often cook with yard-long beans? Did you speak Dutch before moving to Amsterdam, or did you learn by necessity?