Pee-wee Potato Salad with Creme Fraiche, Basil, Horseradish

Ingredients:
pee wee new potatoes or fingerlings (several handfuls)
creme fraiche (1 or 2 spoonfuls, depending on the amount of potatoes)
a small squeeze of fish sauce (for umami)
1 1/2 tsp (or more, to taste) powdered horseradish
salt (fish sauce is very salty, so add salt conservatively)
freshly ground pepper
hand torn basil

Boil potatoes (unpeeled) until they can be pierced easily with a fork (about 15-20 minutes). Drain. Next time I make this, I recommend cutting the cooked potatoes in half so that they soak up the sauce, since the sauce seems to not stick to the potato skins.

Stir together the creme fraiche, horseradish powder, fish sauce, and pepper. Combine with the hot potatoes, and hand torn basil. Salt to taste (add less salt then you think you need since fish sauce is very salty).

Sea Bass Curry

This is a sea bass curry with coconut milk, red pepper, basil, 1 thai red pepper, and a splash of fish sauce and soy sauce.

Sichuan Sea Bass

Sea bass (0.4 - 0.5 pounds per person, or more depending on appetite)
green onion, minced
grated ginger
1 jalapeno, sliced
soy sauce
fish sauce
rice wine
1 tsp Sichuan peppercorns, pan roasted for 30 seconds and then ground
freshly ground black pepper.

Preheat oven at 450. Rub half of the ground Sichuaun pepper and black pepper on the sea bass. Sprinkle with some salt. Place in small oven proof casserole dish. Mix remaining pepper mixer with all dry ingredients, and cover fish with it. Mix the liquid ingredients together, and pour over fish. Bake for 18 minutes or longer depending on the size and thickness of the fish, until a knife or fork can easily piece the fish. Serve with rice.

Plantains

plantains, overripe
pinch of salt
pinch of sugar
generous pat of butter

Peel plantains, and slice on the diagonal. Throw a generous pat of butter into a saute pan on medium high. When the butter bubbles, arrange plantain slices in pan. The slices should have a little bit of space between them, and not be overlapping. Sprinkle with a pinch of salt and sugar. Turn slices over after a few minutes. If the sugar begins to brown, turn down the heat a little. Continue cooking, stirring every so often, until plantains are cooked through, and the edges are slightly caramelized.