rancho_gordo

How are you kids cooking your grits? Are they reconstituted from a box? Try getting a can of hominy, drain it and then whiz it through a food processor, maybe with a touch of milk. Sauté that with some lard/bacon drippings, then add green chile strips and sprinkle dry cheese and cream right before serving. That's my idea of grits.

I used to order a martini cocktail and that seemed to work but this bartender insisted the Bianco was the standard vermouth in a martini cocktail, even in the US, where I don't think we even have this product. I'd learned long before that martinis were probably best enjoyed stateside, but this was a really wildly deluxe "international" hotel and I figured it might be safe. I was worng, but believe me, on the whole, I'd rather be eating and drinking in Europe. But an unrelated point (probably thinking of bleudauvergne's martini in Hong Kong) - during a heat wave I tend make/order highball type drinks but if I remember to pre-chill most of the ingredients, it's amazing how refreshing a short, cold, crisp martini up can be.

I think when you do this over the ice, not just an empty glass, you'd get a bit more vermouth. I know I can tell the difference. But you're right, the vermouth to gin/vodka ratio is a silly debate on the whole. What I can't stand is a watery martini. I find little bits of ice offensive or a drink that's sat on the bar unstrained until serving time (often a long time later) much more offensive than a too "wet" martini. Once in Europe I was served a martini made with "Martini Bianco" vermouth. It is a sweet, white vermouth and it turned me off cocktails in Europe for quite awhile.

My feeling is that things are so topsy turvy these days that no one can really be offended. Everything under the sun is a "martini" as long as it's served in a "V"-shaped cocktail glass. I remember when a vodka martini was an odd thing and gin was the standard. And until a very few years ago, clear drinks were stirred, not shaken. The first time I was served (proudly) a gin martini with a layer of thin ice on the top (from the shaking) I thought it was a joke. I've learned to lighten a lot (and switch to tequila and beer) but all rules are off as far as I can see. The bartender shouldn't have been offended and you can expect to spend a lot of time explaining your preferred method of preparing a previously "standard" drink to a young bartender.

Just last night I was in a restaurant (Cafe Rouge in Berkeley) with friends. I don't go out that much these days because I'm getting my business off the ground and in the end, I often think I could have done a better job than the restaurant. Our waiter had an odd sense of humor (that made our ordering confusing and awkward), which is a forgivable sin. But once our meal was served, that was the end of him. At various times I wanted more bread, drinks and water. After the dinner I wanted an espresso. For me the quandry is do I say something? My life will continue despite the inattentive waiter but at the same time I wouldn't go back and obviously, I'm talking about it with other people, spreading some bad news. As a business owner, I'd want to know about this if this were my restaurant. I didn't say anything.

I've never known anyone who actually used one. Are the differences great? I imagine they break even after you get them home, just from use. But I do really want one. You're lucky!!! Or determined! I have a really nice cazuela from somewhere in central America but I just use it for serving as I'm too afriad I'll break it putting it right on the gas flame.

Oh, yes! I love clever homemade things like this!

Lookie here! I actually have a pic already! Mine is made of steel (I think, as it rusts if I'm not careful). A cast iron skillet is fine but it takes so long to heat up. I know in Mexico, they're sometimes ceramic. I think it's basically a griddle with low or no sides. Please don't judge my housekeeping. Please! (Edited for typos. Twice!)

Can you post a photo? That sounds wild!

Amen to that. In my travels and eating in Mexico, I find that every "rule" is broken somewhere and by someone. And that just the smallest adjustments make a similar dish brand new. I tend to pan roast the chiles and garlic in my comal, the garlic obviously taking longer than the chiles. It doesn't taste so raw and almost adds a nutty or buttery flavor, like roasted garlic. I pan roast it with the skin on and peel it once it's cooled. I also prefer serranos to jalapeños, but that's just a preference. Sometimes I like to use those fat guero (sp) chiles instead. I think a good strong, fast-heating comal is essential- for tortillas to chiles to toasting the oregano. Oh yeah, I add toasted oregano to a lot of my salsa. But I think starting with Jaymes' basic recipe and adding baby steps and learining the nuances of each of the new additions is a clever idea. I can't imagine it will taste anything like "supermarket salsa" unless you use really crappy tomatoes or have access to lots of disgusting chemicals.

I use Vilux brand Vinaigre a la Poire and at my local super (somewhat upscale but not "precious"), it's about $3.25 a bottle. I decided to try after reading Kennedy's description of homemade pineapple vinegar. I knew there was no way I'd ever make it. I have canned serranos and tomatillos from last season. With the bottled vinegar, it's a great emergency "pantry" salsa.

I prefer key limes to the persian limes and until recently, all the stores ever offered were the Persians. Now the Key Limes (or Mexican) are everywhere and a much better deal. But with vinegars, I use a really nice, inexpensive pear vinegar, especially with my tomatillo salsas and it's really great. People try and guess that extra something.

I always think tacos are an easy, fun way to get started. You could make up three or four different salsas, have poached, shredded chicken and a load of good tortillas (homemade would add to the lesson). You could also have raw white onion, cilantro, limes, crema, cheese. etc. Make some beans as a side and maybe an orange/beet/jicama salad. The salsas can be made early in the afternoon so you can experiment or make mistakes. For drinks, you can make jamaica water. Desert can be flan, made the day before. Kind of easy, right? Lots of components but all easy and mostly do ahead. And you could post questions all along the way. But I think maybe you should post in the Mexican forum rather than general cooking. Good luck! Once you get the rhythm, a lot of Mexican food is very similar to make. But I think it really is another cusine, unlike say Cuban, which is more specific dishes.

Sort of like Texans talking about politics? Sorry. Cheap shot that I couldn't resist.

Sorry to chime in so late on this, but isn't this the reason God created good, fresh 100% corn tortillas?

The first time I made this I thought you all were rather "easy to please". But then I carefully made it again, as La Fifi describes and of course I am now addicted. From your description, FistFullaRoux, a quarter cup of oil strikes me as too much. I think that's what I did the first time and it was pleasant but just another vegetable. When I cut back the oil (and really sliced it 1/4 inch thin) I was sold. But I refuse to pay $3 in-season in California for a head of cauliflower!

That's so funny. I never remember her name but she is the "big head lady" to me. She's probably an OK cook but she seems humorless and stresses weird points as if the viewer has done something naughty ("The water must come to a hard boil!!!"). I saw one and she was serving her in-studio "friends" after cooking and they were too much. "Oh my! This is delicious!", "You've done it again!" etc. It made me laugh out loud.

Just my opinion- but I agree with La Tillie here. I don't think Casablanca is cynical enough. It has gorgeous lighting but I'd say it's the wrong lighting to fit Noir. A lot of Film Noir has awful people doing awful things. The best seem to be set in LA for some strange reason... Baby Jane would fit this description but it's really a psycho-drama. FWIW, the scene where Babs Stanwyck and Fred McMurray meet in Double Indemnity is my favorite moment in almost all film history. Too bad they weren't eating, too. For the record, I am not a film historian but I sure loved the forties, even if I wasn't there.

Mildred Pierce's chicken?

Wow- in all my years of cooking and serving friends , family and numerous guests, I've probably met two or three people who don't like cilantro. I have so few food dislikes that I have a hard time sympathizing with a lot of these foods listed. I think it's sweet that you would omit cilantro but I wouldn't. I'm not saying that some of you fit, but there is nothing more irritating than a "special needs" eater. So many of these people think that being particular and being picky are the same thing. Or that their special weird food quirks somehow makes them more interesting. It just sends me running the other way. Some of these people wear it like a badge. I'm trying to think of somehing I just plain refuse to eat and all I can think of is ground beef, and that's not because I don't like the taste. I'm referring to real food using real ingredients. Better Living Thru Chemistry Cuisine is another matter.

I'd like to go on record as some one who would be perfectly happy eating nothing but Mexican food for the rest of my life. But I think they miss the boat on rice. Plain long grain rice is my preference. It never competes and always satisfies. I also hate when people order fried rice with Chinese food. On their own, they're both fine, but with other dishes they strike me as overkill.

That would be great. I'm a piece of "rough folk art" myself!

I use them in cocktails but I know others use them mostly in food. Doesn't he list a bunch of things on his site? There was something about duck breasts, I know. Tana, I think they are about 6-7 bucks, but I really don't remember. Not cheap, but very concentrated. Edited to add: I think he's only in San Rafael on Sundays but the syrups are in Artisan Cheese inside the ferry building, not part of the farmers market.

This guy sells across from me at the Marin farmers market and I sampled his bergamot syrup last weekend. I ended up buying a bottle. All of his stuff is good and he knows what he's talking about. He actually had an old dried bergomot in the booth. Very non-descript until he scrtached it with a fork and it was divine!

This is a little OT but I love to see how far I can make a chicken go, especially the free-$$-range chickens I've been buying. I cut them into pieces and rip the skins off. Often, I'll boil the the pieces. This way you have chicken meat and chicken stock. I save the backs in the freezer for making stock later. The skin, I spread out on a cookie sheet in a single layer (very Silence of the lambs) and cook it on about 200 all afternoon. I drain the fat and save it for cooking and the skins I chop up for cracklings. Just a smidge of them and you have gorgeous quesadillas and glorious salad toppings. All this for about 4 or 5 bucks!