Wow! You’re really cookin’!
Re: what side up with salmon. I like to eat the skin. I like it crisp. So I cook it skin side up and make sure the pan under the fish is well lubricated. My Dad hated the skin. So he cooked it skin side down and felt the cooked flesh separated from the skin quite nicely with that preparation. Skin side down looks better from a presentation standpoint.
Ready for some home cooking after a couple of weeks away. Nice drive to Half Moon Bay (California) today in this glorious weather, even the Pumpkin shopping traffic was somehow bearable. 
Johnson Pier had off the boats: Sea Urchin, live Rock Cod, Albacore Tuna and Black Cod. We picked up a couple of Black Cod. My wife prefers the large ones, I like the mid-size ones. We compromised and bought one of each size. Fish is braising now, and will be surely wonderful.
We had a great Chinese dinner with friends last night for our first meal back. Gotta enjoy the Indian summer while we can, will be winter overnight. As always.
Mushrooms…deconstructed mayo: Meyer lemon, EVOO, egg yolk
Ground round, crusty pappardelle, cauliflower curry
I had a couple of pounds of trimmings from a big package of flap meat I bought at Restaurant depot recently, so I tossed it into the grinder and made big fat burgers. Yum. Beefy flavor was excellent but the grind could maybe have used a little more fat; however, since I cooked them rare they were still plenty juicy. Caramelized onions and blue cheese (my Costco has recently started carrying St. Agur, one of my faves) on top, side of sauteed Brussels sprouts for something green.
A visit with Mom.
Some antiquing with Sis afterwards.
Food shopping after that.
Dinner thought about on the drive home.
Mushroom Chicken Inperial from an updated 1950s recipe from Good Housekeeping.
I added dried thyme and some heavy cream to the original recipe to thicken the sauce.
Leftover rice pilaf and some fresh steamed green beans alongside.
There was wine.
We had another excellent dinner at Drew’s. Details and pictures in the link below.
Frittata fail. Too much filling. Not enough egg. Coulda used a mayo binder too.
I won’t fault the taste tho, it was delicious.
Inspired by the 5 potatoes that came in my farm box, and the need to deliver food tomorrow, I made a huge batch of baked potato soup. Sautéed onions, peeled chopped potatoes, chicken stock, salt, and tons of pepper. Blend and reheated with a touch of milk and sour cream. We Topped ours with cheddar cheese, bacon, sour cream, thyme, and pickled shallots. Wine to drink.
I’m being awful at not taking pictures. It was a fall in the PNW dinner for sure. Risotto made with an assortment of mushrooms from the FM today, and a riff on Melissa Clark’s (Dinner) pork scallopini with apples and sage. Riff because I roasted a whole tenderloin, and then just sliced it and set it on the bed of apples. Pretty tasty!! I am so glad my younger kid decided he likes mushrooms again. We had a dry spell.
My ex used to say that anything worth eating was messy. It works in this application!
Assume you mean black (whole) urad dal, which I’ve only seen at indian stores.
You can substitute black/brown/green lentils (whole masoor dal) in the recipe - they take less time to cook (if you want them to stay distinct).
Pickles shallots sound like a great counterpoint!
All true. But I’m with you on the crispy salmon skin. So, skin side up it is. Question: that means you put the mayo on the skin side and let it melt down?
Yes, exactly. Maybe I’ll hit one today while we are out. I’ve been thinking about the black dal I had in London and really wanted that!!!
I spaced and didn’t realize you were talking about this recipe! I do this one skin side down: the sauce helps keep the fish moist. I do skin side up with broiling. This recipe I use Pyrex, so no broiling. But you could try it skin up and report back!
Have you tried a blowtorch? Here is a neat video I just found while looking at some salmon recipes.
That’s funny. At least the skin stayed put. Yum. Why the face? Who in the house doesn’t like bones? 
There are two of us and it’s not me. He doesn’t like dark meat (chicken 
), and doesn’t usually like the skin either, unless it’s crisp. That means starting with bone in, skin on, and adjusting. The face is me adjusting.
Nice enhancing!
