rancho_gordo

Thanks! I'm up and running and a little bit overwhelmed, in a good way!

Thanks! I'll report back. I'm assuming I can pretty much sub the word tagine for casserole when I read these instructions. I'm looking at my beautifully cured tagine and laughing! It's a happy laugh. Looks beautiful. But now the cleanup......

I asked on this thread but got no response (it's in Genral Cooking) so maybe I'll ask here. My two tagines are just about cured according to Wolferts instructions. My only comments would be to forget the gloves when applying the woodash and oil. Nothing has felt better on my hands than rubbing these down with the gritty dirt and oil. A big mess, yet, but whatta gas! Anyway, I am a novice and I wonder what might be a good first meal to make. I have my lemons preserving but I have three weeks to go. Is there a good dish that might be simple enough and using everyday domestic ingrtedients to encourage me to carry on? I will get more exotic as time allows but I'd love to just jump in. I have Paula's Cousous book, the Roden book and a cook book from the old Omar Khayam in San Francisco but I am lazy and hpe one of you will be take pity on me.

OK- I'm taking the plunge. My two tagines arrive tomorrow. Don't look at me that way! Yes, in fact, I do need two! So I assume this curing process will take a day but what should be the first thing I make? I have Paula's Couscous and other good food. Are there recipes that can easily be adapted back to the tagine? I don't leave the Americas often so I do need some culinary advice!

But are the skins removed?

I don't think you're quite there with a definitive answer. As slkinsey reports, Quaker removes the hull before grinding. Right off the bat, this is different than simply grinding dried corn. And it explains a similarity to Mexican masa.

Mulatos are closer to Anchos. Deep, rasiny and almost more like a sun-dried tomato than what we think of as a chile. Guajillos and Pulla (puya) are in the Mirasol family. All have bright, light flavor and tough skins. But I'm sure somewhere in Mexico, Mulatos are called Guajillos just because I've gone on a limb here!

Interesting, I looked back at Bill Neal's "Good Old Grits Cookbook" and was a little confused as to just this point. i.e. whether or not what is sold as "grits" was ground from corn that was lye-treated or not. I'm probably not helping but the purpose of the lye is to remove the hull. It's possible the grits are soaked in cal or wood ash instead of lye.

Posole is more common in the southwest, as is the product I sell. It refers to the grain and the dish. It is also known as hominy in English. It has a longstanding tradition among Indians so it's not Mexico-Light, it's just different. Also, in the southwest the grain is smaller and I think slightly superior. It swells beautifully without pinching the germ. To cook posole, you soak for 4-8 hours and then simmer with an onion until done, about 3 hours. You can add more water if you need to. I start by covering by about 2 inches. Then use it anywhere you would the canned version. A simple bowl with butter, salt and pepper is nothing short of swell. I love Mexican pozole, too.

ha! I got that one, too. I was thinking more queso fundido, but that looks awfully swell, Ms Wolfert! Thanks for the tips and inspiration. I have a brisket and chile marinade in the big black pot that I normally would have done in the slow cooker. The black matte versus the blood red of the chiles is beautiful and the whole thing gently resting on a soft flame is much more comforting than the Crockpot logo and ugly floral design on my electric slow cooker.

I met Tana Butler in Half Moon Bay yesterday just to check out the shop. I'm embarresed to admit that I already cured the pan and made beans so fast. Now you know I'm obsessive, a wee bit. She also had a red clay line from Oxaca and I bought three comales. I've never had a ceramic comal and I'm thrilled. had a great time and a lovely lunch with Ms Butler.

Tell her you want the $49 dollar one, and that she is forbidden to fill your order until I have mine!!!!!

Just wanted to add my experience to this thead. I now have these four pots I cook beans in: the red and chocolate brown pots on the left are an Italian brand that starts with a "v". I want to say Vesuvio but I know that is wrong. These are great and have a thin glaze on the inside. They have created nothing but perfect beans but I hate the hippie-brown color of the big one. Plus it's too big. I cook beans every other day and tend to cook 1/2 pounds so I prefer something a little smaller. The yellow pot was mentioned upthread. it is fine but the knob is so small it makes for lifting the hot lid very difficult. I like the shape of the pot a lot, though. The black is chambra, mentioned elsewhere. I just got it and in a word: WOW! it is unglazed and unstained and imparts a little earthy flavor to the beans. I got it at Nuestra Tierra in Half Moon Bay. it's really more a casserole than a bean pot but they are sold out of all the medium sizes and now just have minis and this one. Summation: I'm a convert.

I can't imagine cooking more than 15 minutes but I've never had a stringy texture. I don't know! You will find nopales an incredible source of fiber, if you know what I mean and I think you do (or will!)

It's really swell! And purty, too. The link is a little out of context. The recipe is by Pilar Sanchez of Pilar here in Napa (discussed a lot elsewhere on eG). I hosted a Slow Food event (info/pics) with Pilar doing the food and this was one of the dishes. I don't want to give the impression that I came up with the tortilla!

Here's Everything I Know about nopales. Wait. Here's One More Thing

The one who you should really try and get is Dan Strehl who edited and translated Encarnacion Pinedo's Encarnacion's Kitchen (Univ Calif Press). I think he'd add a lot from an historical perpective.

Oh, I'm sorry if that came off less than friendly. I realize I'm not making my thoughts clear and we're talking about a couple of differnt things. No need to make peace unless it involves breaking bread together and we can just do that for fun!

Sorry, I misunderstood. But McMahan's book is about her family and is much later than the classic Californio/Rancho period. There's an interesting book called Encarnacion's Kitchen that is a period piece and might be closer to what you are talking about. it's interesting and almost impossible to cook from. There was a quote attributed to me but this is not what I was referring to, although this would be an influence and inspiration. Well, as a native son of the golden west, I guess I take exception to myself! I'm curious, what ranches are you talking about?

Ms McMahan's book is very interesting and there are some great ideas (like steaming chiles rather than soaking them in hot water) but I don't think she's defined the genre. I think it's still a work in progress and today you'd have to consider people like those 2 gals in LA who used ot be on TV (not always authentic but always very Cal), modern ag crops and recent immigrants from different parts of Mexico and even El Salvador. I think we're in the process of creating California Rancho Cooking.

I thought this was going to be great when it first opened. It was ok, sort of modern twists on Mexican, not particularly from the Yucatan as you might expect from the name. But it quickly went from fair to burritos and worse. It's very irritating because it had potential. This is the 1st choice for a Big Night Out among my Sonoma friends. Winesonoma, I'd like to hear more. It sounds like it's right up my alley but you hear no buzz and the menu seemed uninspired the one time I looked (over a year ago). I would love to hear that it's great! Texans, close your ears for minute. If someone could really get California Rancho down to a science, I think it would kick the pants of Tex-Mex. Vella cheese instead of Velveeta? Any day for me. Olives, beef, chiles, figs.....

I found the new show fascinating. I watched the old show casually and I've seen Flay here and there but I never realized he was such a particular personality. I watched the pre-event special and had no idea about the backstory with him jumping up on the counter. I really wish he hadn't explained it away as a an "American" thing. It was pretty horrifying to me! I also enjoyed watching him having to over-explain and justify his food to the judges. As Dame Edna might say, he is a beautiful example of his type. And I mean that in the nice way! I enjoyed how calm Bayless was and the nice chemistry with his staff. I also like seeing the lady, brilliant host of the seminal Big Brother show, commenting on everything and saying nothing. And using chopsticks to eat her empanada. She is fancy! But I really enjoyed it. It was fun and was an eye opener.

But you're making a political choice every time you buy something! You can buy the artisan grass fed, humane certified local ground beef from a single herd or you can go to Sam's Club and buy the drug-laden mass of rendered nastiness from 200 different cows from all over the world, including cows living on what was previously forest in a developing third world country. These cows fed GMO corn? Most likely! A whole new kettle of farm-rasied, toxic fish. IS your food raised by a family farm practicing sustainable farming? Or the government subsidized corporate farm whose dollars fund policies and propoganda that help you come to the conclusion that: Thanks for bringing this up, stovetop. Let's keep on talking about this one, and loudly.

The big question is where are the Covarrubias murals from the fair???? They used to be in the Ferry Building in SF and I heard that they're now back on Treasure Island somewhere. I loved them as a kid, with the Pacific in the center of the world instead of the Atlantic. I love that after the fair the Navy literally bombed the big statue called Pacifica, which of course means peace and what else would they do with it?

Thanks for the heads-up on this. It's hard to believe that TI belongs to the public again! Is the museum still open? And did you see the statues from the world's fair around? I heard they're there somewhere.