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nessa

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Posts posted by nessa

  1. My favorite so far is the Taj Imports on the southwest corner of 75 and Beltline in Richardson. When I go, I plan on staying at least an hour to peruse all of the various and sundry spices, legumes, beauty products, teas, pickles etc. They are pretty big, and have inside a deli and a bakery.

    I have found harder to find asian/Indian veggies and fresh spices like curry leaves here. Truly a joy to explore every time I go. A bonus is that they are in a complex with three restaurants and several sari stores. I know there are more stores across the street, but I have yet to make it there.

    Another, closer to my home is at:

    6541 Duck Creek, Suite F

    Garland, TX-75043

    The listing calls it the Asia Bazaar but that is not what is has on the store front. I can't think of what it is. However it is right next to an Indian restaurant and a Freight Discount store.

    The owner seems friendly, and they have a lot of nice spices, frozen goods, some fresh produce, and the general legume and rice selection. A few health and beauty products can also be found there. I also say buffalo meat in the deep freeze. In case you are looking for buffalo......

    I get my Caravan Yogurt here and this delicious saffron kulfi. I keep meaning to try the other flavors.....

    Just south on Beltline is the Unique Indian Store.

    According to the proprietors, they cater to the South Indian population.

    I run here for quick stuff, garlic paste, chana, and they have these delightful parippu vada/ masala vada freshly made at the counter. They inspired me to make them myself. The proprietors are always very friendly and helpful. and have a rather large selection of pickles, legumes, rices, oils, frozen goods and a video store.

    433 west hwy I-30

    Garland, TX-75043

    I'm always exploring the different ethnic grocers around, so as I find more, I'll post.

  2. Here are my current favorite condiments:

    From left to right:

    Pearl River Bridge Mushroom Soy Sauce, Sambal Oelek, DOM sauce, Chee Hou sauce, and Caravan yogurt. The Sambal Oelek is a chili paste. The Chee Hou sauce is like the sauce for mu shu dishes, but a bit thicker. Same flavor to me.

    i5094.jpg

    Anyone know what to call this? My Chinese friends say it translates as "Dried Old Mother Sauce". Doesn't sound very appetizing, but it is firey, savory and just plain good. I think they are referring to the brand, not the contents, with that name.........

    Here is a close up of the bottle for anyone kind enough to translate for me.

    i5095.jpg

    And a close up of the contents, which are dried fermented beans, peanuts, chili and oil.

    i5097.jpg

    Also a favorite is this Gold Coin Red Chillies Stuffed Pickle in Oil from Parchanga Foods. Its to die for.

    i5098.jpg

    The Caravan yogurt is really, really thick, with almost a yogurt cheese-like consistancy. It helps cut the heat if I get too carried away by the others....

  3. Oh for the love of pete. Now I'm cravin' gumbo. I'll have to make a vat soon. Those were just stellar articles, thank you very much for sharing them. Gumbo was one of the first things that I learned to cook that made me realize that I *really* loved to learn about other cuisines and cultures, and that I didn't know as much as I thought I did.

  4. and is it herb, or erb.

    How about oib. :raz:

    I'm an erb, bay-zil, kyumin kinda gal. I'v also heard cooomin and of course, down here in Texas, comino.

    I don't think its always about "right" pronunciation, but about what your ears are used to hearing. Hearing it differently can throw you for a loop.

    Flaming yawn. I LOVE it!

  5. I was just thinking about how some words in the food world are mispronounced. Or at least pronounced far differently than I've ever heard. Now, this is not to disparage those who do pronounce things incorrectly, for whatever reason. Far be it from me to do so. However, these incidents did amuse me.

    I have two stories.

    One day I was in the mall, perusing lipsticks. I have a bit of a lipstick problem but that is neither here nor there. So there I was, trying a little dab of this and that on my wrist, comparing colors and textures. I was having trouble deciding, one was too purple, one to orange, I just wanted a perfect color, was that too much to ask?

    The salesperson decided to give me a little help and said here, try this one from Lancome "Mat Cog Knack` ". How odd, I thought. What an awkward sounding name. I upended the tube, and there it read "Matte Cognac". My eyes widened, and I managed to no giggle. I bought it. To this day, every time I put it on, I still hear "Mat Cog Knack`".

    The other story is set in one of my grocery stores. I saw some proscuitto on the shelf, but no price. A salesperson walked by, and I asked how much it was. She said that the "pros kweet oh" was such and such price.

    I chuckled all the way to my car. I mean I can see why she pronounced it that way, but all the same it tickled me.

    Anyone else had any similar experiences?

  6. Thank you lovebenton!

    I had read that some things can mimic wild onion that are toxic. However, the notes did say that if there was a "stong" onion smell then it was ok.

    Our whole neighborhood smells like onions, thanks to the SO and the lawnmower.

    I pulled up a bunch and replanted them in a safe area. I can't believe some folks think they are WEEDS. I think they flower even! You know, if I only had the time, this could totally get me into vegetable gardening. , Having nature's bounty at my finger tips is just heady!

    I have rosemary envy. I used to have two HUGE bushes, but couldnt take them with me when I moved. Thats why all my herbs now are in pots. If they get too big, I'll find a bigger pot. I get very emotionally attached to my plants.

    I don't know anything about preserving or pickling, but I'd love to.

  7. Oh yeah... This year I planted morning glory, marigold and geranium seeds. I bought a basil plant, as the SO killed my old basil over the winter. I've got rosemary, lavander, Mexican oregano, lemon balm, thyme, two jasmine plants, and two each of little one inch pepper plants: Habanero, Hot Jalepeno, and Anaheim. Everything but the morning glory, marigold and geraniums are in pots, so I don't know if it qualifies as a garden.... but by gum, if we ever move my herbs move with.

  8. I need help, Y'all. First, my hardy rosemary has a funky lookin' fungus? And its starting on the trailing rosemary too. Anyone know what it is and how I get rid of it?

    Here are some pictures.

    On the trailing

    i4831.jpg

    On the hardy... its pretty much on every leaf

    i4832.jpg

    My next question, is: Is this wild onion?

    i4833.jpg

    This grows rampantly throughout my front and back yard. Smells like onion, tastes like onion..... and the neighbor says that the area used to be an onion field before the 50's when the homes were built. So is it wild onion, and can we eat it?

    Its like having a crop of scallions at my immediate disposal, I'm tickled pink.

  9. 7-11 Nachos with lots of those pickled Jalepenos, drowing in that weird cheese product.

    Duncan Hines etc icing, kept in the fridge and doled out one cold spoonful at a time.

    Snack machine burritos. Those huge, spicy ones that are kinda mushy. I used to get them in Jr. High at the snack bar and have been hooked ever since. You can find them at 7-11 too.

    Chocolate covered gummy bears.

    hostess snowballs.

  10. I have an emotional attachment to KFC.

    I have not had fried chicken in over two years so FREAKIN THANKS for making me crave it to distraction. My dad loves KFC, and as a matter of fact, aside from Grandma's its the ONLY fried chicken we ever had growing up. Mother fried nothing. Ever. I learned to fry chicken from a friend's mom in highschool.

    Dad loves their coleslaw, and original. I liked the spicy crispy or something. Its been so long.

    I did have Pop-eye's a few years back, and loved the spiciness. But all the grease made me intensely ill. Last fried chicken I had was KFC's popcorn chicken.

    I was very underwhelmed, it was bland blah and a waste of calories.

    But now, thanks to you guy's I have to have some crispy, spicy skin-on fried chicken, and soon!

  11. I used to watch TFG on PBS and what sticks in my memory was how he turned me on to different cultures and cuisines. He was interesting, passionate and knowledgable. He certainly sparked my interest in cooking. I have never owned one of his cook books. I'm not for or against TFG, but I know from experience that folks can accuse any damn thing they want. 10 people can accuse anything they want. TFG had money, so who's to say that one person filed a complaint to get some of it and others joined in for the cash. Rumors, accusations and the like ruin people's careers. And yes, pedophelia has ruined peoples' loves. But there does not have to be a shred of evidence behind it. His career would have been over even if it did go to trial and he was found not guilty/acquitted or whatever the legal mumbo jumbo is for that. Folks remember the bad. Since there was no day in court, we don't know all the facts. Even if there were, we might not. Folks lie under oath all the time. I do know, that if I had children and they were molested, theres not enough money in the world to settle out of court. Or if I had been molested, same diff. But I'm vengful that way. He might have done what he was accused of. He might not have. The only ones who really know are the ones involved.

    I'm greatful for his influence on my life, for what its worth.

  12. I went to my local Indian grocer this weekend. Next door was an Indian bakery. I'm always on the look out for new sweets and new flavors. Last week was Halva, and I'm now officially an addict. The bakery had all kinds of interesting looking cookies. Shortbread was a common theme, they had 5 or 6 kinds. The charming woman behind the counter kept giving my friend and I a cookie from each kind, so we could taste. I ended up getting some scrumptious almond merengue cookies, some kind of sand tart, and what may have been a lemon/almond/poppyseed cookie. Divine. My friend and I both really were intrigued by two shortbreads labled "salt". One had cumin seeds in it. I HAD to try that. She gave us one of each kind and we split them. Each of us took a bite of the cumin/salt/shortbread. My poor american mind just couldn't get around the salty shortbread I'm afraid. Very salty, and sweetish. But distinctly more salty than anything else. It reminded me a little of that time when I was young when I age some bakers dough against all maternal caution. I wanted to gag and spit it out but I gamely chewed and swallowed. I smiled. The lady indicated that I should try the pure one, with no cumin. I did. Worse. We smiled, thanked her, picked out cookies and then left. As we got out of the store I covertly dropped the rest of the cookie that was clutched in my sweaty little fist into the outside trash can.

    I will be back for more of the merengues and the lemony almond things though.

    I must say that I like other Indian desserts far more than Indian cookies. But I'm glad I tried them. Maybe I'll experiment and make a sweet cumin shortbread.

    After I work off the halva, that is.

    edited to add: I adore rutabegas and kale. I hardly make a vegetable soup that doesnt have both in there. I have not met a cheese that I did not like.

  13. I have used the berries in cooking and they haven't resulted in any strange colours. Either it is s difference in the type of sumac or prepartion or the addition of dye in your lot, but why would you add dye?

    I don't know why they would add dye unless they were trying to disguise something that wasnt sumac or that they didnt think was red enough. I don't see that as being likely, its not like sumac is hard to come by etc. I'm thinking this might just be a case of unexpected yet legit results? I put a heaping tablespoon of dried crushed sumac berries into one cup of yogurt and marinated chicken for about 10 hours in it. I can see how color from the berries would leach out, but this was like a magenta/pink/weird. I KNEW I should have taken a picture.

    Maybe it just looked weird because it was mixing with the white yogurt.

    I think next time I'll just do a sumac rub and forgo the yogurt.

  14. Question about dried sumac: When mixed with yogurt, will it cause the yogurt to become oh say, vivid pepto-bismol pink?

    Did I use too much? Let it sit too long so that the color leached out? Or did my supplier sell me sumac with some kind of dye?

    How can I avoid this? Do I need to simply add the sumac later so that there's no time for the red to bleed?

    I was marinating some chicken in a yogurt/sumac marinade and my chicken turned this hideous pink. Tasted fine but......

    Any insight, suggestions or laughter?

  15. (AKA Über--as in Streaka über alles.); Tighe (AKA Goober, because it rhymes with Über and matches his personality

    How funny!!

    My most common nickname for my dog Hoover (vacuum not president) is Uber Goober! And he is, thats labs for you!

    I'm looking forward to your blog.

  16. I will never again reach blindly into my magic bag of spices and judge by color. It LOOKED like cayenne. Was one pinch/grab enough? Hmm not sure. Golly the chana still tastes the same. Throw a little more in. Well damnit it still isnt spicy (hot). Dip finger into spice. What the hell? Wait. Why is my hand a freakish yellowish orange? Those BASTARDS! I bet they put food coloring or something in the chile powder. Just look! Yellow smears on the refrigerator handle, my hand is orange, what the hell is this.

    Oh. Achiote molindo. Ahem. ANNATO YOU DUMBASS! :wacko:

    Tomorrow I reorganize the spice closet. :laugh:

  17. I went to Bombay Chinese today for lunch. I wanted to go to the Taj grocery and I met a friend in the parking lot for lunch. There were at least three Indian restaurants there and I saw one of them was Bombay Chinese. I recalled the glowing reports so in we went. We won't be back. I'm guessing their buffet fare is far different from their dinner menu. The concept was nice, and the food wasn't *bad*.

    The buffet is small, half is vegetarian, half is not, and each half is the mirror of the other. Chicken tikka on the meat side was paired with vegetable tikka on the other. Nice concept. First off the waitress cautioned us strongly against a certain dish because it was "very hot".

    I thought to myself, "Oh goodie!!" and took a helping from both the vegetable and the chicken side. It was warm. Slow burn that built a little but far from hot enough to warrant a caution. It was tasty, but nothing to write home about.

    The soup was miserable, hot and sour that had a pink tinge, was very gelatinous and in desperate need of salt. Nothing really stood out as anything I'd care to eat again except the sauce they had for dipping the tikkas in.

    The entrees swam in nondescript sauce, and by swim, I mean you had to fish for anything resembling a chunk of chicken or a shrimp. I found that a tad odd. We got there pretty much as lunch started so there wasnt time to deplete the resource yet. The shrimp Szechuan was battered then left to become soggy in its swimming pool of sauce.

    I'm glad I tried it, and like I said, it wasnt bad, just blah, ho-hum for the most part. Service wasnt bad, wasnt great.

    I'm sure their dinner menu must be quite different but I won't be back with all the other Indian and Chinese restaurants that I have yet to try.

    Incidently, the weekend buffet is $9.99

  18. How bizarre. I was *just* wondering about what role, if any, alcoholic beverages played in Indian cuisine, before I logged in.

    But, I didn't want to seem too foolish and you know, actually ask.

    Indian food is one of my passions and I'm trying, slowly but surely to learn the history, culture etc behind the culinary delights. I'm also learning slowly but surely how to cook it. :wub:

    I will surely be watching the progress of this thread, thanks for starting it!

  19. I just went to a new (for me) Indian grocer and I found this yogurt called "Caravan". It was love at first spoonful. Its Halal, so no gelatin. Its thick like sour cream. Thick thick thick. Deliciously tart and creamy.

    I'm so disgustingly in love. It even has the history of yogurt on the back, and what yogurt is in like 7 languages. I don't think I'll be switching brands any time soon. And its not THAT fattening either, only 220 cal per cup.

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