I used some dried Thai red chili pepper and also some guajillo peppers as per the recipe. I didn’t take a picture but they were ground up along with some white peppercorn in a spice grinder and then added to the blender mixture.
Wow. Thai red curry is one of my favorites. Would you make the paste from scratch again versus using the prepared stuff? Wondering if I ought to try making my own.
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Yeah I would make it again, it wasn’t that hard to make with the immersion blender and I had most of the ingredients minus the gapi / shrimp paste. I thought it tasted good in the curry. I put the leftovers into an ice cube tray to portion out and into a freezer container. I did see in the recipe notes that commercial pastes or pastes from the market are often used even in Thailand rather than making the curry paste from scratch, so nothing wrong with using packaged curry paste.
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Nice. I have had really good success using a mix of dried Korean Chili pods and dried “Facing Heaven” Chilis for heat.
The Korean Chili gives a bright red Color.
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Tomatoes, two ways.
Gorton’s beer-battered fish filets baked in the convection oven, topped with tomato jam and Little Leaf sweet baby butter lettuce on a very lightly toasted brioche roll.
The rest of some Super Sweet tomatoes, halved, drizzled with a half tsp of fig balsamic and sprinkled with some Camargue sea salt that was a gift a long time ago.
Recipe I used in the summer of 2024 for the tomato jam was this one. I cut the sugar back to 1/4 cup each of dark and light brown sugar. Also cut cayenne back to just over 1/8 tsp., and it’s perfect for me. I freeze it in half cup containers.
There was a glass of wine. Hello, Friday evening!
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made this tasty Ottolenghi dish tonight with this weeks fish share, striped bass. Maybe I have reported this recipe before, but even tho it is multistepped (read the whole thing, the ingredients repeat) the result is excellent. He cites a tunisian inspiration but the seasooning and use of herbs, dried lime and sour is reminiscent of iranian and other persian gulf dishes. Served with some left over brown rice on the side.
The spinach cooks to a rather dark color but its a delicious flavor, and its great combo. the recipe calls for whizzing the herbs and spinach in the processor (resulting in a smooth sauce sort of like that in some saag paneer) but I used frozen spinach and chopped my herbs, it was just fine.
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Sounds great, and the complete dish aspect including veg and beans also appeals.
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Cookbook of the Month / Quarter voting is underway if you’d like to participate in the cook-together thread. (Please vote only if you intend to participate and cook from the books).
Barefoot Contessa is the first selection, and we are voting to choose the second (between Raghavan Iyer & Kristina Cho).
Last night’s dinner was leftover pan pizza (from frozen) and a green salad. I was so hungry, I forgot to take a photo.
Tonight’s dinner was ATK’s chili shrimp (camerones arandeados) with Rick Bayless’s arroz blanco. Cukes in a lime-and-honey-vinaigrette to go with. I love this meal: max flavor for min effort (outside of cleaning the shrimp).
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Puttanesca, meatballs, Parm and parsley. Meatballs were ground beef, Italian sausage, onion, garlic, parsley, egg and a sprinkle of Italian bread crumbs. Sauce was onion, garlic, anchovies, capers, splash of wine, fire roasted diced tomatoes and basil. I forgot the olives and rpf. I should have checked a recipe, it’s been a while. Tomato, cucumber, red onion salad, balsamic & oo dressing, dried basil. Toasted garlic bread. Wine.
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Pizza again! The other half of that TJ’s ball from earlier this week, this time with garlic sausage. From the oven:
And on the plate:
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Tonight’s dinner was a cod filket with a Boston lettuce tomato salad dressed with evoo, lemon juice and fresh basil.
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Arabic Chicken & Potatoes from Recipetin’s Delicious Tonight - potatoes and carrots gets mixed with olive oil and sumac as well as chicken thighs in a mix of paprika, garlic, thyme, cumin, sumac,sesame seeds and yoghurt. Everything is than roasted in the oven for 50 minutes.
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Dinner tonight was at a special event at a golf club honoring a restaurant that those on the NJ board are familiar with.
Standard “banquet hall” fare. I.e. nothing horrible but nothing standout either. The open bar made up for it (I wanted to take that glass home). 
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Lunch was very heavy, at a new restaurant showcasing food from Kerala, so I had a late and light dinner of leftover lemon rice, yogurt, and some appalam / papad for crunch.
Lunch was pretty spectacular!
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I hope you enjoy it if you try it! Domenic’s is on Main Street, close to downtown right after route 117 splits off from route 20.
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Quickie last night: leftover turkey meatballs with homemade marinara over ww penne.
We’re having friends over for dinner tonight!
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We arrived in Philly a little too early yesterday afternoon to check into our hotel & were peckish anyway — having had no proper breakfast before we left, so we went straight to lunch at the Oyster House 
I’d been waffling about the Italian resto I’d reserved for dinner, so I tried to figure out where else we could go that would also be in walking distance. Just on a hunch I checked for a table at our all-time favorite, Vernick Food & Drink, and lucked out! We’ve been going there since they first opened in 2012, and have never had a bad or even mediocre meal. Their blue crab toast is the stuff of legends, and the various crudi and small plates are always fabulous.
We started with a cocktail each, a Starless Sky (cognac, plum wine, Campari — their twist on a negroni) for me, and the very refreshing The Perfect Crime (Jamaican rum, rye, a healthy amount of angostura bitters, lemon, pecan orgeat) for my boo.
I had a couple of Ford’s martinis with the meal, my PIC a Hendricks martini & a glass of Tempranillo to go with the final course.
After the customary soup shooter amuse
— last night it was potato leek with parsley oil —
we shared the blue crab toast, of course, which was just as good as it was 13 years ago when we first sunk our teeth into that heavenly hunka grilled sourdough, abundant with crab meat and lightly seasoned with lemon aioli and tarragon,
and the red snapper ceviche with mango, coconut, and cilantro. Dreamy, with a distinct heat kick 
Next up the night’s special small plate: seared scallops atop fregola sarda, ‘wilted’ arugula, and asparagus puree. Very good.
I was pretty stuffed at this point & almost dreaded the roasted half chicken still to come, but I powered through: juicy, flavorful Amish chicken with grilled gem lettuce and peppers.
Despite practically having no real estate left in our tummies, we shared the petit financier with hazelnut mousse and honey-rosemary ice cream. Amazing combo.
Nightcaps were the delovely Night, Night, Josephine (rum, banana liqueur, mole bitters) pour moi, and a Yellow Brick Road (lemon, vanilla liqueur, egg white) for my PIC.
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Wow That was some meal. I would drive 1 1/2 hours to Philly just for that amazing crab toast.
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