I’m working with my “house made” merguez from a recent “I bought lamb shoulder again” post. For some reason I am favoring this spindle shape.
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Yes, that is where I got the idea, though not nearly as involved.
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Thanks @celeryvictor! I got a container of de-shelled blue crab from the Dry Dock Fish Co stand at farmers market.
An odd crapshoot dinner that somehow worked.
A b/s chicken breast was marinated in orange juice, orange zest, minced garlic, minced fresh rosemary and parsley, and honey. Pan-seared in butter and olive oil and finished in the oven.
Marinade reduced to a few Tablespoons and mounted with a large tab of butter and set aside.
Sone white rice left over from our company lunch on Friday from a Chinese restaurant in our complex (someone didn’t take their rice carton) was used in a very bastardized fried rice, sautéing chopped radishes and shallots in the remaining butter/oil mixture from the chicken, then adding several scoops of rice until it was all heated and cooked. The orange-rosemary marinade/sauce spooned over the slices of chicken.
Steamed green beans alongside, and a very nice 2018 French Cotes de Roses Chardonnay as the libation.
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I made Chowhound’s Spanish-y couscous subbing tri-color quinoa and pitted Castelvetrano olives. I added sauteed chicken breast, green peas, and thinly sliced Romaine and used some of the almonds in the dressing. We both agreed avocado would be great here. DH sauteed haricots in the chicken drippings with roasted garlic olive oil, butter, and TJ’s umami seasoning.
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We had another outstanding dinner at Bistro D’Azur in South Orange, NJ. We enjoyed a fork tender lamb shank, swordfish escabeche, foie gras with blueberry compote and brioche croutons, mushroom risotto, and duck confit salad, and crispy homemade Spanish chips. It all went great with an excellent Amarone and Chateuneuf Du Pape. We took home some excellent homemade chocolate truffles and enjoyed it with 20 year old port (not pictured).
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Chicken and BF’s homemade waffles with a maple Sriracha glaze. I used cutlets and breaded them with a neutral plain breadcrumb mixture, Lawry’s Seasoned Salt, cayenne, and paprika. I also added a few splashes of hot sauce to the egg before dipping them. Sweet, savory, salty, spicy!
That followed a vegan lunch. A friend who is vegan made me this Bulgarian cabbage stew with tomatoes, kidney beans, dill, and probably a few other things. It was very good-- so healthy that my body doesn’t know what to do! Would not seek it out again, but for a meal with no meat it was very homey.
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Made homemade pasta, first time without my sister (well, mostly by myself - BF got into the act too! Went much faster with two of us.) My sister gave me her (very) old roller when she bought a new one for herself… So dinner was pasta puttanesca & our Frenchy butcher’s skirt steak. Steak was super tender. Puttanesca was sauteed garlic, kalamata olives, capers, cherry tomatoes, and pasta water, but I also added calabrian chili paste and arugula. Parm and parsley to finish. can you say, “ooh-mami”? 
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those are gorgeous!! mine are going to go hide in a corner… 
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The finished dish; merguez sausage, “herby” yogurt sauce, on a pita-that-wouldn’t-open, with lettuce and cucumber.
Husband said he would have his with potato salad, but ended up eating it with “herby” yogurt sauce, on a pita-that-wouldn’t-open, with lettuce and cucumber!
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Sauerbraten, sweet & sour cabbage (didn’t have red), and spaetzle made by H and 1 kid. The dinner was at 2nd kids request, and was another successful transformation of one of my 6 large meat roasts from a Whole Foods sale.
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Haha… looks aren’t everything, as they say. Yours seemed crabbier with less ingredients. 
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Funny!!!
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Man, I wish I could make a pasta sauce that silky.
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they were delish, which is definitely what counts. 
at my sister’s, i have even less natural light for pics than i do at home, plus she keeps a bare-bones pantry, so if i want something on a plate, i have to bring it!
We have a big light problem too. But I discovered the light fixture in my stove range is awesome for photo lighting, and I work the heck outta the iPhone highlight features. Food photos have become a central hobby in my life being on lockdown in Covid Central aka L.A.
Hats off to you! That’s a lot of work.
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Crabbier . Great description. Food dictionary . Scrabble points .
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Could apply to a person as well.
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I’ve never really cooked beans before. So I decided to bbuy the cranberry beans from Rancho Gordo and use them in pasto fagioli.
I soaked the beans for 4 hours in water, then started the soup. They only took 2 hours to finish. I decided that I’d rather eat my carbs with my crusty no knead bread and left the pasta out of the soup. The beans are amazing!
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