rancho_gordo

There are countless reasons to support local food beyond a carbon footprint. But if you're buying the grapefruit from Israel and the grapefruit from California from the same store, you're still transporting it home. Coming from Israel adds 4%? Great. I just saved 4 percent by buying local. Plus: * It tastes better because it was picked when ripe as opposed to picked when best for shipping. * The grapefruit grove is producing food in my area, stopping suburban sprawl * It helps my local economy by producing something, maybe even exporting * It supports a local food tradition * For national security reasons, it makes sense to produce our own food, especially since we can so easily, rather than depend on another country to produce it for us. And do you think the raising gas prices are going to affect things? Me, too! I used grapefruit as an example. It could be most anything fresh.

I'm going to open a can of worms. YOu know how you did your quick soak thing? You can just start cooking them. Bring them to a full boil and boil them for about 15 minutes and then just let them simmer on very low until done. When you think about it, having them "quick soak" in hot water is virtually the same thing as cooking. Why not follow the lead of millions of Mexicans and Indians and just cook them? Some people will tell you this helps the gas. Some people will tell you that falling in love is wonderful, too. Don't trust them! My Midnight beans are super fresh and if given the choice, I'd soak for 2 hours and then cook. If I hadn't, I'd just cook. Bean cooks are like martini aficionados. They think their technique is a religion.

Today was the big food event. Did you go? I made beans for 1,200. Or so they say. I made 10 pounds (dry) and came home with half. It was very organized this year. It's such a weird mixture of local wine types and middle aged guys with cigars and girlfriends exposing too much artificial cleavage. A lot of people were pretty toasted by noon. Fried eggplants from Zuzu were my fave. ← I did paninio for 1000, I think somebody from your both had some, or at least the had one of your shirts. ← That was Joan! And she didn't bring me back one! There will be hell to pay Monday morning....

What a nice blog! What good taste in beans you have. Spooky! Is it me or are you eating really well these days? Before I remember power shakes and seaweed ice cream (not really, but close) and you've blossomed as a cook, it seems.

Today was the big food event. Did you go? I made beans for 1,200. Or so they say. I made 10 pounds (dry) and came home with half. It was very organized this year. It's such a weird mixture of local wine types and middle aged guys with cigars and girlfriends exposing too much artificial cleavage. A lot of people were pretty toasted by noon. Fried eggplants from Zuzu were my fave.

Are you famous? Are you famous in your field? I assume that's your advance and the photographer's budget is on top of that. Or does it come out of the 10k?

The total time was about 15-20 minutes. I imagine even three minutes of this video would be pretty boring if you had no interest! The bird sounds were literally the sounds of spring in Napa, by the way!

As a public service, I videotaped the making of the masa with my ultrapride. The corn was boiled with just water and about 2 spoonfuls of cal for about 15 minutes and then left to sit overnight, rinsed and strained and then added to the machine as shown. It was pretty good this time. The main thing is that despite what seems like a huge workbowl, you really can't make more than a cup at a time.

The actual ingredient is important too. Over a year ago I wrote about the Massa rice they feature and I tell you, there is nothing like it. I thought I didn't like brown rice but I was wrong! Brown rice entry.

I've pre-ordered it at Amazon. I can't remember a book that I've been look as forward to as this one. I'd wish you luck but I don't think you'll need it!

Without bringing them all back to the fore, your criticisms are ones that I think had and may still have validity and should be used constructively by the organization. Clearly, the organization is not perfect, but it has done much good , especially by bringing many worthwhile issues to greater prominence. Those who do not dissect it cafeteria style may be accused of being blind adherants. One doesn't have to agree with everything about the organization to understand that despite its imperfections it remains the best alternative for what it does. What those who agree with its basic premises should do, is strive to improve it and/or make the best of it. This should be applicable to just about any human run organization. ← I agree with you, but there is a problem when the heads of this organization do not understand the grace that can be found in humility or the offense that can be taken from arrogance. The only person I really agree with 100% is me. That's cool! I think the magic of Slow Food has been the individual chapters, not the leaders of the organization, here or in Italy.

As someone who has publicly tangled with Slow Food and has a lot of criticisms of the way they handle things, I think cult is far too strong a word. And a little offensive to people who are actually dealing with cults. My experience has been that Slow members are more like "cafeteria Catholics" outside of the Vatican, who pick and choose different aspects yet remain faithful to the core idea. A lot of the members are not interested in digging too deep. It's an aesthetic that touches them in exactly the right place. If it means better food, I don't think it's so bad. But they have to be careful if they want to actually influence people outside of the believers. Arrogance and elitist behavior, perceived or actual, are a turn off, despite what the heads of Slow Food may think.

I added a video to help people cook beans because I was getting tired of repeating the same thing over and over but it's now got over 5,000 views! It's a good tool. Link is in my sig line.

This was my first experience with the IACP and it was pretty great. I was a panelist but I plan to join now. The membership is pretty deep and wide and I was shocked at how easy it was to meet so many of my heroes. The food on the whole at the Hilton was disgusting, however. I smothered most everything I was offered with Tabasco and lemon juice. There was a very good party for everyone outside on a terrace and there were lots of interesting stations to try local food. The cracklins were AMAZING and I liked the historic lamb soup. I was disappointed in the oysters. They seemed to have been rinsed in tap water. Was there something I was missing? I like Cochon a lot but I think it's a very good restaurant doing interesting things, not the sacred temple worthy of hushed voices I kept hearing about. Also had a great dinner at Upperline with some of the best sweetbreads and duck, not served together, ever. It was fun seeing all the different levels of sweetness in the Sazerac cocktail. My favorite was at the Carousel bar in the Monteleone Hotel. What a great town. I'm sorry my stay was so brief and superficial. I'm going back.

I just want to stress I did not come up with the idea of using the Ultraprode for masa. The US distributor is advertising it as a machine for masa. I saw the ad in El Restaurante Mexicano, an industry magazine. And while after 6 tries, I got a good batch, I would not recommend this machine to a casual user. It's $200 or so. The last time I was in Mexico I saw an electric grinder and I think that may be worth pursuing.

The corn is still very moist and you do start w/ a 1/2 cup of water. By the time the corn is ground, the small amount of water is absorbed. The dough once it's really done, is pretty soft and doesn't seem to be a stress on the machine at all. I promise to make a video once I get back. I've used generic starch corn from the Mexican grocer and some nice heirloom corn we grew, originally from Jalisco, called La Montosa. I think I even tried the purple corn. the results were similar. eta: this is my story of making masa, up until the point of the Ultrapride. Link.

I'm not sure if the problem was me or the machine. The first time I made the nixtamal, I cooked it for an hour. In the morning, I rinsed it and rubbed all the skins off and added the wet kernels to the machine. It made a dough but it was incredibly heavy and sticky and a little bit gritty. The tortillas never puffed up. The next two or three times, I cooked the nixtamal to the point where I could easily rub of the skins, which was about 10 to 15 minutes, then left it to soak overnight. The masa was still a little gritty (which wasn't unpleasant, just not what I was used to) but the texture was ok. The tortillas still wouldn't puff. The last time I did it was in our warehouse. We made the nixtamal on a hot plate and weren't paying close attention but somehow the masa was smooth and had that slightest hint of a sponge texture, which is exactly how I get it from the tortilleria. The torillas puffed! The differences were we left the masa to rest, I think. I also thing I started the grinding in smaller batches and added more corn as the thing became smooth. You can't do too big a batch. The grinding takes 15-20 minutes. I hope to try it again but I won't have time until after next week (New Orleans for the IACP conference and hopefully at least coffee with you!) and I'll try and make a video.

Well, the last time I did it worked very well. And they are actively marketing this thing to Mexican restaurants as a masa grinder.

The posole is too expensive to grind, I would think. That grinder looks similar to the one i have (there's a photo upthread) but it looks like they're grinding the corn dry. I did it wet.

It sounds like we sent you posole, so that's best to soak and simmer. No cal needed. Did they send you a recipe card? Heads will roll!!! We have a locally produced heirloom variety of corn from Jalisco that we'll be adding this week. And cal, too. You're still stuck on the grinding situation.

It's 1. Keep checking the skins after 10 minutes. Once you can peel them, let them rest. You'll rub and peel later. I see Theobrama says 1 hour, but I've always heard 1 hour if you're making pozole, overnight for masa.

I stand corrected re the Indian grinder. We made some masa here in the warehouse yesterday and it was a hit. But I've tried the Indian grinder about 7 or 8 times and this was the first time the masa was fine enough without being heavy. You want to cook the corn in the cal just until you peel off the skins. For us this was about 20 minutes. Then you cover, turn off the heat and wait until morning. I've cooked it longer and the masa gets heavy and not very nice. We also let the masa rest and this seemed to help. Delicious results!

Thanks all! I'm still working a lot but I really got burnt out on doing so many markets. I now mostly work just 5 days a week. It's such an odd concept. But I do go in about once a month. Unfortunately mid April I'm doing that IACP conference in New Orleans so I think that won't be in the city on April 19th. But Joan, Sarah or Dan will take very good care of you! Remind right before you come so we can make a fuss. You know, several years ago when I was still new and fresh and not so grey haired, we had a huge bay area eGullet get together at Carolyn Tillie's house in Napa. I'm in touch with most everybody still! I couldn't get into the SF market then and was doing lots of smaller markets. And how many dozens of eGulleters I've met now thanks to the markets. I get a little sentimental thinking about it! But no so much that I'll give up sleeping in on Saturdays!

Did the KA people tell you this, or did someone who tried it tell you? I doubt the phone support from the KA folks would tell you to go ahead and try it, since it wasn't manufactured for that purpose, but I really don't see why it wouldn't work. Anyway, thanks for the blog on the topic, fascinating stuff. I'm not sure I'd care to buy a new appliance just to give it a try, but maybe if someday I have a really big kitchen... ← It was a fellow Mexican food enthusiast who said it wouldn't work. I wasn't going to risk it. Looking over this thread, I see andiesenji mentions the Indian thing. Being the obsessive I am, I bought one. It's ok but it's still not fine enough. If you were a tamal addict, it would be a great way to go but for $200 or so, it's not a fine enough grind for tortillas.

I ended up going through all the steps. I was told the KA food mill was for dry grains and wouldn't work. The Alton Brown method is a joke. I wish he would stay away from Mexican food. My trials are documented here, if you care. In the end, I came to the conclusion Maseca is not the devil (but canned hominy is). The most practical thing to do is the hand grinder which is about 20 bucks and pictured in a previous post.