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AlexP

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Everything posted by AlexP

  1. I am actually from Torrelavega, in the province of Cantabria of course, not Santander. Well, in order to avoid arguments of what makes a real/authentic Quesada Pasiega, let me ask the simple question what would be a decent substitute for Queso de Burgos or for Requeson that could be found in American markets. Gracias Alex
  2. I would like to make some quesada. I tried a recipe on Sunday without good success, nonetheless, I do not want to end my search. This recipe did not call for cheese, but some yogurt,. I have read a couple recipes that either call for Queso de Burgos or Requeson. I am located in Minneapolis and finding the above cheeses is an issue. Can anybody recommend a cheese available in the US markets that will be an appropriate substitute? Thanks Alex
  3. I have never had the luck to try this dish, however, I remember researching the recipe to read how it is prepared. In the following link, Michael Laiskonis explains the process: Creme Brulee I am not sure if he prepared this specific version in the event, but I hope that it helps you. Alex
  4. You might want to add "In my opinion" to your quoted sentence. Many people would not consider Jamon a poor brother to anything. Regarding what to bring, be aware of custom regulations. Some items such as Jamon Iberico are ilegal to bring to US soil. You have the risk of losing those items. Alex
  5. My knowledge of the subject is quite limited. Growing up in Northern Spain, I saw baby eels at home once in a while. Patients of my father will give them to us as a gift. I barely see them in Spanish menus when I am at home. Vserna would be best to explain where his are coming from, but my guess is that they could be from the Northern Coast of Spain. Some on my friends years ago will go fishing for them at night. If you were lucky it could be quite lucrative for a teenager. Sad to say, but I will feel lucky if I have the chance to eat them again, even once, specially at those prices. Alex
  6. Great photos of sea food. Regarding the eels, here is a link with a post by vserna that explains a little about Baby Eels in Spain. Conversation of Baby Eels Edit: Sorry I did not completly read Adam's post asking to disregard the eels.
  7. I would not worry too much about what is authentic or what is not... Even in Spain people have different opinions. I am Spanish, and I have my opinions... But anyway, for me the key elements are a good broth, generous portion of saffron, and the rice. If you are interested in recipes, Penelope Casas has several books with recipes for different paellas. I even think she has one just dedicated to paellas, but you might be better off getting one of her general books with all types of recipes. If you can read Spanish, a search online might give you plenty of recipes by Spanish cooks as well. I have cooked paella many times, and I am never happy with the results, always finding a problem with something... Alex
  8. I tried Esperanza's recipe over the weekend with great results. It will be a great addition to my recipe collection. In my opinion, it is something between flan and cheesecake, but I would not call it neither a flan or a cheesecake. I guess I need to call it "Flan Napolitano en Memoria de Francisca" I love flan, all kinds... Denser with more egg yolks, lighter with whole eggs ("and all the bubbles") My mother has been cooking her flan lately in the pressure cooker. My family lives in Spain and they really use the pressure cooker for many dishes. I do not own one, so I stick to the usual oven with water bath when it comes to flanes. Anyway, gracias por la receta Esperanza. Alex
  9. I have just discovered Mercado Central and Lake Plaza... Both markets are fantastic. I doubt we will be going to any other places for Mexican food. There is so much to explore in just those two places. Glad that you enjoyed being back in Minneapolis. Alex edit spelling
  10. I just want to add that polvorones along with turron duro y blando are the taste of my Spanish Christmas! Currently I purchased some polvorones and mantecados online (Polvorones y Mantecados)and although it is not like being at home with my family, it really brings back great memories. Viva los polvorones!!!!!!!!!!!! Alex
  11. First of all, as a Spaniard living in the USA, I am extremely thankful for your contributions to the culinary world. You are a great ambassador of our cultures. I hope to dine someday in el Bulli. Your creativity is well known. When you look forward to the future, do you see any limitations? Do you feel that your team will be able to keep up this creativity for years to come? Thanks Alex Prieto
  12. Fast Food Nation is an excellent work. A must read. Another book that might interest somebody is Beyond Beef by Jeremy Rifkin. It makes you look at beef and food production in a different way. I read both at the same time and I have not had a burger from a fast food restaurant since then. Actually, I have probably eaten fast food (Chipotle or United Noodles) a only couple times since then. I wish works like these would change some of the industry practices, but I am highly skeptical. However, informed people can make change. Alex
  13. Thanks for the replies. I am glad everybody agrees that the chili should be fine regarding the safety issue. I guess I could have being concern if everything were thrown to the crock-pot raw, since it could have taking a while for it to reach any high temperature. However, that end product would have not been any good, taste wise, without browning the meat and all. There are going to be about 20 different chiles (chilis? sp) so hopefully people like my mix of spices. Let me tell you, I am glad that it is my wife's office and not mine... Can you think what is going to happen there after all those people ate so much chili? Alex
  14. I cooked a batch a chili on top of the stove yesterday night (brown the meat in fat, some veggies, some stock, some tomatoes…). Once everything was in the heavy pot ready to be simmering for a while, I transferred the contents to a crock-pot to be cook over night. And here lays my error, I had the setting of the crock-pot in “Keep Warm” instead of “Low”. The chili cooked there for about 8 hours. This morning I noticed my error and tooked the temperature. The stew was about 184 Degrees F. I tasted the chili and it was done, I was actually satisfied with the taste as well. My question is, should I worry about health safety? When I transferred the contents from the heavy pot to the crock-pot last night, the contents were hot since I have been cooking it on top of the stove. I remember using a spoon to taste the stew and having to wait a couple seconds for it to cool in order to not burnt myself. If this was a batch just for me, I would not worry too much, but there will probably be 25+ people tasting it . I will have some for dinner tonight, so I guess if I get sick I will know before my wife serves it at her work on Friday, but I was hopping for some input before hand from the forum. Any thoughts from e-Gullet members would be highly appreciated. Thanks Alex
  15. I live in Minneapolis and I have found them in a couple local chain supermarkets. There are usually more expensive than online. You might want to make a couple calls in your region. I have used the following two Internet sources and they are good: La Española Meats, Inc. Piquillo Peppers La Tienda Piquillo Peppers I have always been really satisfied with La Española Meats. Hopefully this helps. Alex Edit: Obviously I am too slow writing... Two new replies before I even wrote mine. Plus spelling in second edit wow.
  16. Most of my friends in Spain are in their early 30's. The majority does not cook and dinner parties at home are a rarity for them. My nephew (18 years old) came to stay with us in Minneapolis during August. My sister very proud told me that he could cook. Warming up leftovers and putting pizza in the oven is not cooking for eGullet standards... If it were up to him, he would have gone to Burger King everyday. His most memorable meal, besides the ones cooked by me (at least that what he says), it was a $7.50 Chinese buffet. I still remember the year that I arrived in Spain and my friends whose wedding I was attending picked me up at the airport in Madrid on our way home, Torrelavega in northern Spain. To my surprise, they stopped in a Burger King by the highway to eat. At that time I was a smoker, so I enjoyed a beer and a cigarette. I do not want to generalize, just presenting my experiences. Back to topic.... Honey, as others stated, would be good with Queso de Burgos. Alex
  17. I have been making a few cheesecakes lately, I have not have too much trouble on the cracking side. I do not have any useful tips, besides those mentioned above. However, I do have a question: What would be the ideal internal temperature of the cake prior to taking it out of the oven (or turning the oven off if that is your method)? 165 F, 175F... Thanks in advance for any responses. Alex
  18. AlexP

    Pizza Stone

    Yes, I had the oven on at around 375 degrees for more than 1 1/2 hours (I was cooking something else) with the pizza stone in it before I increased the temperature to 550 degrees for another probably 30 minutes before I started cooking the pizzas. Maybe I should have had the oven at 550 degrees for an hour.... Alex
  19. AlexP

    Pizza Stone

    Well, I cooked several pizzas on Saturday. The crust did not come out as good as the first time. One issue could have been the pizza stone. I tried to get something at Home Depot but they sent me to restaurant supply stores... I ended buying a pizza stone at Target. I was thinner that the stone I used previously. In addition, the dough was really sticky compare to the first time. I wonder if using Unbleached flour had anything to do with it... The trick using a cookie sheet did not work out that well, however I only used flour since I did not have any cornmeal. Anyway, people did enjoy the pizzas and I will continue using Slkinsey's recipe. I actually can't wait to make them again. They are fun. Alex
  20. AlexP

    Pizza Stone

    Thanks for the replies. The dough recipe by Slkinsey can be found in this thread: Pizza Crust Blah Anybody besides Marie-Louise uses a convention oven? Any other opinions on this regard? Also another question, please.... I purchased All Purpose Unbleached flour. The first time that I tried the recipe I used All Purpose Bleached flour. Should I keep using bleached flour or unbleached would be better? After today I will not have Internet access, but I will post my results next week, since I will be baking a few pizzas for a party this Saturday. Once again I will appreciate any comments. Thanks Alex
  21. AlexP

    Pizza Stone

    I made a few pizzas the other day using Slkinsey’s dough recipe. I am sorry, but I cannot find the thread with his recipe at the moment. (I will edit post once I find link) Anyway, the recipe and tips are great, and the results were good for being my first time attempting pizzas. I do have a couple of questions that I would appreciate if somebody could answer: - How ahead in advance could I prepare the pizzas before baking? 5, 15, 30, 45 minutes... If we are talking about 30 min for example, do I refrigerate? - I have an electrical convention oven. The first attempt was done at a friend's house with a regular oven. Should I use my convention feature at home? - As other people in this thread, I have problems transferring the pizzas to the oven. I do not have a peel. Any opinions on putting the pizzas on parchment paper and slide them into the stone with some flour to help the pizzas slide? Could this work? I will test the process, but if somebody has done it before I would appreciate any feedback. (I know that this question might sound stupid, but I have to ask…) Thanks a lot. Alex
  22. AlexP

    Opening a wine bottle

    Well, we used to open bottles of Rioja by pounding the bottle against a wall. Yeah, we wrap the bottom part of the bottle with a towel and kept hitting, with "delicacy", the bottle against the wall (wall and bottle made a 90-degree angle). The cork would slowly came up, to a point that you could grab it with your fingers and pull it completely. It does work, but obviously, use cheap bottles of wine. By the way, we never had a casualty and we tried this method dozen of times (literally). This was years ago in Spain, while drinking kalimocho (coke and red wine). To mix the two sometimes we would only had a plastic bag from the supermarket and we would poor everything in the bag and pored the mixture from the bag back onto the 2 little bottle of coke... Let's just said that I had too much fun growing up in Spain with a legal drinking age of 16... My family got tired of that and they sent me to the US to study... Alex
  23. AlexP

    Rare Cooked Pork?

    A couple weeks ago I ate at a restaurant where they served me a great pork tenderloin, medium rare. I was surprise, but I had met the chef before in his prior job and I did not hesitate. I really enjoyed it. I know that I could never serve pork at that temperature to friends, because they want any of my pork dishes nicely overcooked, completely dry. However, I would not mind eating mine that way. For the people that like it in the medium rare side, would it be safe with mass-produced pork products from regular supermarkets? Or should I just purchase from a serious butcher after some research? I like to go to butchers, but it is not always an option. Thanks Alex
  24. Just for the record, here is a link for the Paella Seasoning. As a Spanish living in Minneapolis, I have miserably failed my tradition and I have used Paella Seasoning before. I do not do it anymore, but I still have a couple packages that will probably be used sometime... Although for a second I thought Mr. Serna was playing a joke on us, I realize that is probably not the case. I remember talking to my parents about this seasoning package and they did not know what it was. I have actually (another confession to make) looked for it in Spain, I did not find it in Cantabria! Another thing that I would like to add, the best rice dish I ever have was in Northern Portugal, an "arroz caldoso" (sea food rice stew) That was outstanding! If I have to name the best dishes I ever have, this one will be among them. All right, now, let's talk about real issues: FUTBOL!!!!!!!!!! Venga España!!!!!!!!!! Alex
  25. Roasted Vegetable Gazpacho AlexP made this for a Twin Cities gathering and paired it with the White Gazpacho recipe (which is also on RecipeGullet). It was outstanding. 4 Large Tomatoes (each cut in half) 1 Green Pepper (seeded and cut in half) 1 Large Onion (yellow or Spanish, cut in half, not peeled) 1 Large Cucumber (peeled, cut in half) 1 Head of Garlic (cut off the top) 1 c of EVOO 1/4 c Balsamic Vinegar Salt Pepper Have charcoal burning in one side of the grill. Coat all the ingredients with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Poor some olive oil and salt on the cut garlic head. Grilled the vegetables on direct heat for a few minutes until you have nice grill marks with the grill uncovered Keep transferring any vegetables with sufficient grill marks to the indirect heat section of the grill Once all the vegetables have a nice color, keep them on the grill at indirect heat with the grill covered for about 15 minutes so they get some nice roasted flavor. If you see any vegetables loosing too many juices, remove them to a bowl. Keep the tomatoes with the seeds side facing up. After the 15 minutes of roasting under indirect heat with grill covered, transfer vegetables to a bowl and cover for a few minutes until they are cold enough to handle. If you have time peeled the pepper and the tomatoes. Also, scoop out the cloves of garlic from the head and peeled the onion. Cut up the ingredients and transfer them to the blender (maybe use only 5 cloves of garlic to begin with and adjust to your taste if needed). You might have to do this step in a couple batches. Poor some of the olive oil and vinegar into the blender and blend until smooth. Taste for salt and pepper as well as olive oil and vinegar. The above measurements are just an approximation. It is up to the cook's taste to adjust the recipe. I personally use Balsamic Vinegar, but please, do not tell any of my fellow Spaniards, Sherry Vinegar is another great option (although it might not need much quantity) The portions of the ingredients are not extremely important, change to your taste or based on whatever amounts you have available. Cool in the refrigerator, preferably overnight and serve with croutons, grilled or uncooked chopped vegetables. If you do not have time to chill the soup, poor some ice cubes with the ingredients and blend them together. In summary, the recipe is a general overview of the process; other ingredients might be used such as bread, herbs, lemon juice.... Personally, I have not really tried any other combination although traditional gazpachos use bread. I use the same ingredients when I am making a regular gazpacho without roasting the vegetables. In this case, you might want to lower the amount of raw garlic. Keywords: Appetizer, Grill, Soup, Vegetarian, Vegetables ( RG1019 )
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