It has been a few years thanks to Covid - time to get back! And welcome back to you as well, @linguafood - how are things and what have you been cooking?
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We enjoyed another outstanding dinner at Cafe Panache in Ramsey, NJ including crispy panko crusted tuna with forbidden rice, Bok Choy, in a wasabi sake sauce; filet mignon with sautéed onions in a bordelaise sauce; tuna tartare; lobster bisque with plump mussels, and their awesome bread and butter pudding. It all went great with an excellent cabernet.
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Stormy weather. Thai-ish shrimp soup. Sauteed shallots, garlic, ginger, red bell pepper and the white part of the bok choy. Added red curry paste, fish sauce, chicken broth, coconut milk and left it to simmer for a while. Seasoned and sauteed the shrimp and set side. When I was ready to eat I reheated the broth and added the green part of the bok choy and shrimp while the rice noodles were cooking. Poured the broth over the noodles and garnished with cilantro, omg hot chile and a squeeze of lime. Salad was cucumber, carrot, turnip, green onion, black sesame seed with sesame oil and rice vinegar dressing.
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Was in the mood for something a little different yet quite filling. Delicious creamy shallot and garlic risotto finished with some peas and carrots. Topped with a blackened mahi-mahi filet with a brown butter and garlic sauce.
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Dumplings with pork, napa cabbage, ginger, garlic filling and some fried rice with bok choy, mushrooms, egg, scallion (next time we will try to make our own wrappers)
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It is a long, arduous, and relatively unbelievable story, the events which occurred this evening that led us to a Miller’s Ale House in Lancaster, PA. I try to avoid chains, especially on vacation, but the situation arose to eat here. It ended up being very good! A decent steak (with garlic butter) for me, Justin had meat loaf, and we shared a gigantic pretzel. The Tito’s martini with bleu cheese olives was a nice touch. Our server, Amanda, was excellent.
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Talk about a teaser!
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Saturday night was mezze night for us, to give me a break from cooking. I had some leftover mashed potato cakes, smoked salmon, and creamy Dijon mustard sauce from earlier in the week that I turned into into smoked salmon canapés. A little bit of green stuff—aka microgreens—brought a fresh, peppery bite.
Mini spinach pies, a lamejun, vegetarian grape leaves, and CSA carrots and kohlrabi to dip into hummus were our second course (not pictured). Korbani’s Bakery in Methuen, MA is our go-to for stocking up on such deliciousness.
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Too $$$$. I ordered smoked salmon from a Jersey place last time (pandemic extravagance :-D) that was very good. I really need to hop on using that gift card!
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Thanks! I’ll try to share more of my meals here 
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Dropping in after my inordinate laziness about posting meals (so. much. food.) to talk about these MOMOS we had for dinner tonight!
Potstickers on speed - the mutton ones taste like a delicious kabab in a dumpling wrapper.
The pork ones are classic and delicious.
The vegetable ones have a really delicious mix of veggies plus a bit of paneer.
Momos are usually served with “momo chutney” which can vary from chilli sauce to a fiery roasted tomato concoction (my friend’s Tibetan babysitter in nyc makes a bomb version of the latter). I took the momo chutney provided and added a few things to tone it down and tweak the flavor profile for my parents.
We made plenty of momos for dinner plus enough for late-night snacking… but sadly there will be none for late night unless someone cooks more late night 
YUM!
(Pics are from the momo people, because we did not have the patience to wait for me to take a picture or two.)
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A HUGE Thank you to @Phoenikia who posted a recipe for a curried lentil and apricot soup on the SOUP Dish of the Quarter Thread. It was absolutely one for the best soups ever. I learned that a friend was having some health issues and since I had all the ingredients on hand I thought I’d make a some to bring to her. It came together so easily but tasted like you worked on it for hours. It definitely will be added to my regular soup rotation (I make a pot every week). The recipe suggested serving with yogurt but I didn’t have any and didn’t miss it.
I rounded out our meals with fried rice that used up several things hanging out in the fridge. I used pre-cooked basmati rice so I leaned the rice toward biryani flavors - garlic, ginger, cumin, garam masala and saffron. The pomegranate seeds added some much needed color and acid pop to the rice.
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I couldn’t get the link in the Soup thread to work, but is this the recipe?
Thanks!
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Yes it is. At first I thought that there was way too much garlic and ginger but there wasn’t. You may need to be a ginger fan - which I am - though.
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Great - thanks! I’m a ginger fan too.
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So happy you enjoyed it!!
Thanks for posting it; I’ve saved it to Paprika 3, and will make it when I get some dried apricots from Apricot King - think @greygarious recommended that source? Or TJ’s if I make it there.
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It was sooooo good. Thank you so much for posting it.
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That pretzel is hilarious.
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A small chuck roast was chonked into large pieces, browned, and removed from the Dutch oven.
Onions were chopped, carrots were peeled and also chonked, garlic cloves were smashed and minced, cremini mushrooms were thick sliced and halved again, and all was sauteed until the onion was translucent, adding the garlic in the last 30 seconds.
Meat added back in with beef stock, a large bay leaf, a small handful of dried thyme and s/p, and simmered for 45 minutes, skimming if needed.
Added about 3/4 cup of pearl barley, 2 medium Yukon Gold potatoes peeled and cut up, and a half cup of chicken gravy from the freezer.
Let it go for another 30-40 minutes, adding peas at the last minute for color and additional s/p to taste. (There IS barley in there…it’s at the bottom.)
A buttered Pepperidge Farms crusty roll alongside with a small glass of wine.
Lunch for a couple of days as well as feeding my freezer.
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