Picked up my GF to hit B&BW and Sam’s Club for poms and possibly other fruit, ended up getting far more things than I thought we needed , then came in with her and sharpened a few of my cheapo Home Goods knives on her spiffy Chef’s Choice sharpener. They’re impressively sharp now!
Dinner was mapo tofu with a cheat sauce I’d picked up at the Chinese grocer. The instructions on the package were pretty useless, so I followed trusty WoL’s instead. It was really tasty — good amount of heat & ma la, and not as oily as some restaurant versions, but lacking a bit in depth, maybe? I’ll see if there are other brands out there, but this will scratch an itch in no time.
If you haven’t picked up a jar of dòubàn jiàng (spicy bean paste), I think it’s an overall better investment than a stand alone premade sauce. The full WOL recipe for mapo tofu is pretty straightforward to put together if you want to try that one sometime!
We enjoyed another excellent dinner at Alfie’s Ristorante in Warren, NJ, including a veal chop with mushrooms; Chilean sea bass Provencal with white wine, garlic, scallions, tomatoes, capers, and green olives; shrimp and lobster ravioli in a white vodka sauce with sundried tomatoes; fried calamari in a balsamic reduction with sausage and spicy peppers in a crispy edible bowl. It all went great with an excellent cabernet and red blend.
I bought a spaghetti squash a couple weeks ago because I knew it would hold and was good to have as a fall back ingredient. Years ago (like 35) I had a recipe I loved that had spaghetti squash and cream cheese and I think a Swiss type cheese (probably yarlsberg ) - it disappeared in a move. I think this is why I keep buying bland SF spaghetti squash.
Anyway I tossed the squash with some blanched Russian kale (no spinach at the FM), 8oz of quark, some alpine-ish cheese from a local maker, cayenne, thyme, s&p. Threw it into a casserole dish and topped with more of the alpine-ish cheese. Got it nice and brown and bubbly.
Not bad, not sure I’d serve to company (maybe as a side dish), a good frozen tundra dish. With a gamy noir.
Greek-ish roast chicken thighs, with onions and potatoes (lemon, garlic, oregano). Roasted carrots. Marinated olives and feta (olive oil, more lemon, red pepper flakes).
Agreed - just get doubanjiang, douchi and sichuan peppercorn (all three together for $20 and you will get enough to make at least 10-15 mapo tofu dishes)
Lamb filled pelmeni (from a lovely little Ukrainian grocery and deli in Rochester, NY) topped with a sauce I threw together of eggplant, roasted tomato sauce, and bas ajvar (a purchased spicy red pepper spread that I now need to have on hand at all times) and a dollop of tzatziki. Served with ezme. Please don’t tell anyone from the Restaurants with Multi-Ethnic Cuisines since I have maybe 4-5 going on here, depending how you count.
, then came in with her and sharpened a few of my cheapo Home Goods knives on her spiffy Chef’s Choice sharpener. They’re impressively sharp now! 
