Norm Matthews

The recipe said to cook it until it was dry but it also said to keep it at a simmer while covered. After an hour, it was still quite soupy so I uncovered it for the last half hour and it still was not dry but I didn't want to cook it any longer, it was quite tender by then. One ingredient I could not get was kerisik. The sub was to get some dry coconut and toast it. I could not find Kaffir lime leaves (although I might have seen them in the Asian market but couldn't read the labels) so I used lime zest instead. I found tamarind in the local Mexican market. I'm not sure I did what I should to extract maximum flavor though. PS The other ingredient I could not find was galangal. I substituted a combination of fresh ginger and dry turmeric.

Charlie and a friend saw a Malaysian recipe on TV and asked me to make it. I went to 4 stores over a two day period and found most of the ingredients. l used a couple of suggested substitutes. It is called Beef Randang. It is spicy and uses toasted coconut and coconut milk and tamarind. The picture isn't all that photogenic though.

I found two packages of Korean pork in the freezer so that was dinner. One was bulgogi and the other was kalbi flavored.

Many years ago a church group I was in was planning Thanksgiving dinner for the congregation. I was assigned the green bean casserole. I didn't know what that was but when I looked it up, I was offended that they wanted me to do a recipe using canned cream of mushroom soup. I had a great, from scratch, James Beard recipe for mushroom soup but it was thickened with egg yolks, so I am sure it would curdle if used in an oven-bake recipe. i held my nose and made it anyway. Now much later when my son asked me to make a dump recipe using canned soup, somehow it didn't bother me. He asked for it again today. Chicken thighs with mushroom soup, sour cream and dry onion soup mix... Well I say it didn't bother me but it bothers me that it doesn't bother me.

My mom had a set of Desert Rose dishes. That brings back memories. I think my sister has them now.

A few days ago @Shelby and some others were discussing a baked potato recipe. It was British, European, Fondant, and maybe had other nomes too. At almost the same time someone else at another site mentioned Greek style roasted potatoes. I collected three recipes and want to try them soon. Last night Charlie said he was craving a dish he made at home when he was living in Seattle and wondered if I would make it. It was chicken thighs baked with Cream of Mushroom soup and eaten over rice. i decided I'd try a small sample of one of the potato recipes to go with it. I did the Greek style one. Recipe is at my blog. The chicken thighs were skin on, bone in and baked according to a dump recipe I found. It used a can of mushroom soup, two cups of sour cream, a tablespoon of lemon juice and a packet of onion soup powder. Baked @ 400º until done, about an hour. Charlie liked it said I should keep the recipe.

Thanks. We like it too. One of the grocery stores had them. I got two and we liked them so I got more over time. Now we have nine. I think that will be all we need.

Charlie had friends over and I made a taco bar.

Thank you. Sorry, I must have spaced out or got distracted when I started to answer before. I'd go for pineapple. Not a tofu fan.

@JoNorvelleWalker & @Dejah Sorry I didn't answer sooner. I thought I had. I've never had FuYu but regular tofu, when I try to use it, is a non food item. It is Ok when someone else who knows how to use it and Charlie uses it in Kimchi stew, but if I have to make a choice for myself, tofu will lose against anything else. Speaking of Charlie, he made dinner tonight. It is Dak kalbi, a spicy chicken dark meat recipe.

Charlie asked if I would cook something for dinner today. I asked if there was anything in particular he'd like. He thought for a while and asked for Korean Fried Chicken wings. That is something he'd have to ask for 'cuz I wouldn't volunteer it. But then he looked up the recipe he had in mind and it was easier than the one I've made before. It is a big job to clean up after, but it's really good.

It was pretty cold yesterday but today it was very pleasant to be outside. Last night Charle brought home some pre seasoned chicken for me to cook. I went to the store and got some plain chicken pieces to cook with them. I was afraid the store ones wouldn't be very good. Charlie took one bite and discovered that was the case with these. He liked the other ones. I brined them for about 20 minutes with two cups of apple juice, a couple tablespoons of honey and 1/4 C. Canning and pickling salt. I rinsed and dried them, sprinkled them with Cajun seasoning and smoked them all @250º until they read 165º... about 3 1/2 hours, spritzing them with more apple juice every 30 minutes or so. I roasted the potatoes using a Greek style recipe, the slaw was a KFC copycat.

This was a fairly quick meal on a chilly day. The recipe name is Hungarian Mushroom Soup. I added some cubed ham on the side in case someone wanted meat to add.

This slab of baby back ribs was less than half the price they were last summer. I had to get it. It was nice enough to smoke it outside. When my son lived in Seattle he created a cherry BBQ sauce for ribs. When I saw a recipe for baby back ribs with cherry glaze in a BBQ book I recently got, I wanted to try it to see how close it was to his. Except for having a little more heat, they are pretty similar.

I didn't boil the eggs. I steamed them separately and added them in later. My son always asks for them if I forget.

Here is what I used but more water and beer instead of wine. New England Style Crab Boil Prep Time25 minutesCook Time40 minutesTotal Time1 h 5 mServes8 People IngredientsRecipe makes 8 Servings 1 cup(s) water 2 cup(s) white wine 2 bulbs of garlic, cut in half, horizontally 1 large white onion, cut into quarters 2 lemons, cut in half 2 Tbsp old bay seasoning 2 springs of fresh thyme 4 fresh corn, cut in half 2 Lb baby red potatoes, cut in half 4 smoked sausage, cut into small chunks 4 Oz unsalted butter 4 crab clusters 1 Lb shrimp, peeled and deveined 1/4 cup(s) fresh parsley, chopped Instructions 1In a large stock pot, bring water, wine, garlic, onions, lemons, old bay seasoning and thyme to a boil. 2 Lower heat to medium and add corn, baby red potatoes smoked sausage and butter. Cook 15 to 20 minutes. 3 Add crab and shrimp and cook an additional 5 to 8 minutes or until shrimp are pink and fully cooked. Toss everything gently to cover in cooking liquid. 4 Season with a little more old bay as needed and serve on a large platter. 5 Garnish with fresh chopped parsley.

Crab legs were on sale again at Hen House for almost half price.

I get good comments when I add about a teaspoon of dry powdered Ranch dressing to the egg yolks and skimp a little on the mayo. Sometimes I also like to add a little sweet pickle relish.

When we were having dinner last night, Charlie asked if I could use this recipe and make it with garlic and cheese. I thought about it and figured he was describing Focaccia. I am sure I have had it before, probably even made it once or twice but I don't have a good memory of what it is supposed to be exactly. I think I used too much cheese. I hope he likes it.

It's pot roast season now. I hope prices start coming down soon though. The bread is the same recipe I usually make but without the sour dough for flavor... just regular French bread with just flour, yeast, salt and sugar with enough flour to make a soft dough. I cooked a potato with the meat in the crock pot, mashed them with cream, butter and salt and added them to some instant potatoes. PS the weird lines in the gravy and around the plate is a reflection of a new light fixture that Charlie installed.

I made Salisbury steak with some vegetables from the farmers market. i forgot to serve the sliced tomatoes .

Did two kinds of chicken wings tonight. One was Alton Brown's and the other one was cooked with sugar, oil, soy sauce, salt, pepper, paprika and beer. it didn't look anything like the demonstration nor had much flavor other than chicken. I won't be keeping it.

Charlie asked for one last cookout for the year with his friends. He wanted some Korean food. I made pork and beef bulgogi. I was going to make a type of kalbi with the ribs but ran out of ingredients so I made Kansas style ribs in the smoker. Sides were coleslaw, potato salad, baked beans and store bought four bean salad.

As per requested, the dumpling maker has been used. It came a while ago but I first used it today. The biggest problem I had was with the home made dough. I'd love to find some premade ones that I didn't have to order. I rolled out the dough and let it rest while I made the filling but they shrank and had to be rolled out again to fit and then I had to trim the excess. Other than that and the learning curve of how much filling to use, it works just fine.