See my cooking post in the “Let’s Talk Lobster” thread for last night’s dinner. 
I’m guessing if you don’t know where to get sperm fish here it’s probably not available anywhere.
I guess you can always go catch your own cod, or maybe ask a local fishmonger to save the innards?
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No cod locally that I know of but Mr. Bean fishes for striper, sea bass and fluke/flounder fairly often. I’ll ask him to do a sperm check the next time he’s out.
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Made chicken rollatini tonight with a side of garlic-parmesan mashed potatoes.
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We had a blast Saturday night at our friend’s Birthday
party. We had all types of little bites, which were prepared by the birthday boy himself! Since this was such a large party (about 28 people), and consisted mainly of his old non foodie friends, he didn’t go all out, but the food was still very good. We have been over his home in the past with a smaller ‘foodie’ group and he has prepared some amazing 13 course dinners. He is a very talented chef. Some of the bites that we had were Greek nachos, eggplant, sausage, shrimp, crab cakes with corn salsa, stuffed potatoes, meatballs in sour cherry sauce, spinach burritos filled with spicy meat, pulled pork that he smoked overnight, Asian chicken salad, and homemade peach ice cream. I can’t remember all of the preparations since the food was coming out at such a fast clip. We also had this outstanding red blend wine from Cooper & Thief that was aged for 3 months in bourbon whiskey barrels, and had an alcohol content of 17%! It was surprisingly smooth with a hint of bourbon. It even comes in a bourbon shaped bottle. A lot of people use the bottle as a lamp so they cut a notch on the bottom of the bottle so you can fit a wire under it without it toppling over.
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Mrs. P made her version of a Cuban sandwich with pork tenderloin, that was pulled, and mixed with roasted and mashed garlic, rosemary ham, swiss cheese, pickles, mustard, and butter that was brushed on the outside of a crispy baguette before it was placed in a panini press. We had a side order of air fried homegrown holy mole peppers, shishito, and mixed mini peppers. The sandwich isn’t pretty but it was delicious 
The dark green peppers are the home grown holy mole peppers.
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An incredibly easy dish with no name. Do black pepper and olive oil count as ingredients? If not, then this is a two ingredient dish.
Take clumps of chorizo and add them to a hot skillet with just a splash of olive oil. You don’t need much because of the grease that will release. When the chorizo starts to brown, I add the thinly sliced potatoes. Usually, the potatoes are done cooking when the chorizo starts to burn. Of course, you don’t want anything to be charred, but blackened, crispy chorizo is delicious. Some of the potatoes crisp while other just become soft. It is a delightful side dish with a wide range of flavors. Take about 20 minutes to complete.
Made this the other night for the first time and again tonight for a pot-luck I attended.
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Another one from two nights ago. Chicken French Onion.
This one took a long time to make. Spent 40 minutes caramelizing the onions. Added a splash of balsamic vinegar right as they finished. Cooked it down some more. Removed the onions, added the chicken to cook, removed the breasts, added beef broth which was heated with flour to thicken. Once it became the consistency of a sauce, added it all back to the pan and topped with Swiss cheese.
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When you didn’t think you were cooking dinner …
Scallops, cauliflower, hot peppers and shrooms with pasta.
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That’s one of the great things about pasta, it can bind almost any ingredients together. Pasta is like the MacGyver of foods, no matter what ingredients you have on hand, throw in some pasta and “poof” it’s a meal!!!
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Lol, too true @NotJrvedivici
I should have also posted a pic of the pie I made for dessert. Simple really, but oh so good. Coat the entirety of a store bought graham cracker pie crust with butter, pour a thin layer of caramel over the bottom, cover that with flaked coconut, then a layer of crushed walnuts, then a layer of chocolate chips. Cover the whole thing with about two thirds of a can of sweetened condensed milk. Bake for 35 mins at 350. Here’s what’s left.
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Last night, my chef friend went all out to whip up this meal on Sandy Hook. He said a week earlier that he wanted to have me, my mom, and Justin for Chinese food on the beach. However, he ended up cooking it himself! He brought two propane jets and a slew of ingredients. It was impressive. He used to run the restaurant Wildflowers in New Hope, PA. I’ve learned more about the restaurant business from him than anyone else.
He really thought of everything. There was chicken marinating in sweet chili sauce, mushrooms, baby corns, onions, ginger, peppers, green chilis, and basmati rice. He stir-fried each ingredient separately which was great because it took about an hour to cook and dragged out the evening. Very casual to stand around drinking wine and taking in the sights and smells of a slowly prepared stir-fry.
It was on this date that I learned just how easy chilled white merlot goes down when hanging around outside…
Chef Walter at work
There are not many aromas in this world better than fresh ginger frying on a hot wok
The finished product…delicious!
My mom brought along a peach cobbler
At around 7:30 we walked down, wine glasses in hand, to toast the setting sun. It was magical, almost surreal. (This enhanced by being buzzed from our little party killing three liters of wine and a six pack of beer…)
I stepped in for a little bit, all whilst wearing a tacky Hawaiian shirt!
I must say, I have had an awesome summer, but this really put it over the top. He prepped and packaged each ingredient individually and had a lot to clean up at home when we were done. I never thought I would have have an experience like this. A simple meal in familiar surroundings with family and friends it was, but there was something magical about it. Hard to describe.
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After the weather we’ve had you had great timing! What a great story.
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Yes, it was PERFECT weather. No humidity, mid 70’s. Overcast sky switched to sun when we arrived at 4:30. I don’t remember breaking a sweat.
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Nice report Greg. A stir fry picnic sounds like a fun time!
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For an appetizer tonight, Mrs. P made fresh figs stuffed with blue cheese and pine nuts, in a balsamic vinegar. She also stuffed a few strawberries with blue cheese and pine nuts. It was very good. Excuse the fancy plate😀
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Nice! I wonder if those babies wrapped in prosciutto would be even better or if it would throw off the balance?
I am trying something new tonight. I’ve got a pot of sauce with some crab. I’ve eaten a lot of crab in my day but I’ve never done this.
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I’m sure they would go very well wrapped in prosciutto. Mrs. P has made them wrapped in bacon before & they were delicious. It’s just that we had a lot of leftovers from Drew’s last night, so she made the ‘light’ version with only blue cheese 
How did the crab in the sauce come out? They look really good. Did you make them over some pasta?
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Oh yeah, crab gravy is an excellent dish. Shell Warning that’s the biggest problem are shell shards being well disguised in the gravy other than that it’s delicious, my grandmother would make a pot a year of this. Generally when my uncles went crabbing and brought a bucket home. Enjoy!! (careful of shell shards!!)
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