Haven’t made quesadillas in a while and figured last night was as good a night as any. Chicken, onion, pickled jalapeño, with some extra cheese on the outer layer (and plenty of cooking spray). Crunchy, cheesey goodness.
To drink: almost made a Margarita but decided against it last minute and went with a Gimlet.
First time making shrimp tacos since we’re ALL Mexicans on Cinco de Mayo amirite? 
We also didn’t get our now almost traditional Friday lunch of Cajun shrimp tacos & I was blanking on dinner ideas.
Marinated jumbo black tiger shrimp in Penzey’s Cajun seasoning, extra garlic & onion powder, TJ’s smoky & hot chile powder, olive oil & a splash of lime juice. Made a little bit of cole slaw with sliced red onion & dressed simply with olive oil, lime juice & salt.
Mixed kewpie, sour cream and green El Yucateco sauce for a tac-izzle drizzle, and sliced up half an avocado. Fried the tortillas until nicely charred. Margaritas were my PIC’s refreshing contribution.
For a debut dish this was tha bomb. DEF putting shrimp tacos in rotation from now on 
That crunch is making my mouth water. Beautiful!
Tonight was lemongrass and pork meatballs in a tamarind and coconut sauce served with green beans and rice. It was very aromatic with a light hint of spice. We both loved it so it’s definitely going to be a repeat, especially since it wasn’t overly long or complicated to make.
That’s pretty much it, after pouring the gumbo in the dish I scoop rice into a pyrex dessert cup, and then invert it and keep the bottom from falling out with a rice paddle or spoon or small spatula, and then I place it in the gumbo and remove the cup and then slide the spoon out from underneath. Totally unnecessary but makes me feel fancy And its just me eating this one.
Work and Me errands all day today.
75° and bright blue skies.
Spring has sprung.
Went with Fettuccine Carbonara for a late dinner, using chopped smoked bacon instead of guanciale. And I added peas. Because I can.
Wine.
Shrimp and grits with bacon, scallions, and oil-roasted tomatoes. I used a smoked, white cheddar for the grits. Unseen is the obligatory dose of tabasco.
We enjoyed another outstanding dinner at The Farmer’s Daughter in Newton, NJ including branzino; lamb shank; beet tartare; tempura battered octopus; clams; It all went great with a couple of excellent cabernets.
That sounds amazing. Source for the recipe if you have it handy?
What gorgeous food!
The only changes I made were that I used tamarind sauce instead of paste and rice vinegar instead of cider vinegar as it’s what I had on hand. Enjoy!
Gyros? I’m often left guessing on your meal photos, including those over on the breakfast discussion. Would you prefer that I not ask?
Oh no, not at all. Ask away.
Sometimes I just get lazy.
These are just homemade pita chips, with leftover strip steak and some crema, to make for a very poorman’s nacho to pair with what turned out to be a resounding Lakers victory over the warriors.
Best (well… second) rendition of linguine alle vongole last night for our poker crowd. I used a lb. of frozen chopped clams from our local fishmonger plus the last can of chopped clams I had left in the pantry.
Sautéed a chopped up whole head of garlic in anchovy oil, i.e. olive oil in which 3-4 anchovies had melted into, added a hefty amount of RPF, splashed in some vermouth & white wine, but I have yet to open that darn clam juice bottle!
Cooking almost 2 lbs. of pasta to perfect al dente was a stroke of luck, as I’ve never made that much pasta at once, and mixing it all up in the sauce pot was tricky as well.
Added the clam meats just before the pasta, a little pasta water, a knob of butter, fresh parsley and the zest of one beautiful, big fat lemon. It was really good. One lucky guest went home with leftovers enough for two meals. I also made a ginormous salad with radishes, avo & cherry tomatoes with that wonderful dill mustard. Damn that shit is good in vinaigrettes!
As for WFD tonight, we’ve been invited to a potluck hosted by one of my local cooking group members, a Thai lady married to an Italian. My PIC made lamb kebabs, and I will bring patsaria me feta as an app.
The hosts and other folks invited are very good cooks – one of them being a favorite local barkeep and his mom, who makes amazing desserts, so we’re very much looking forward to food and libations 
I make a lot of Greek salads during the summer since I get a steady supply of tomatoes, cukes and peppers in my CSA. I will often have it for lunch on it’s own or for dinner as a side dish with salmon or chicken.
I’d really like that now!
Me, too! Wish I hadn’t handed off the leftovers 
