rancho_gordo

I don't know. I've seen lots of Mexican chefs cook in glazed clay ollas, cazuelas and even comales. I prefer the unglazed, that's for sure. But in any case, i've only seen them use them on an open flame, on a stovetop or some kind of barbecue set up. Not in the oven.

OK- was up to the wee hours reading. It's incredible and recommended. But I think they should run the frijoles section by me first for the next edition.

Just got back. Mostly we ate at friends' houses (lucky me!) and on the beaches, which was almost always ceviche with local sea snails called chivitas, pan de cazon and pescado frito. it was hard to get tired of that! By chance we ate at Taberna de los Frailes that kalypso mentioned above. it's right next to a great old monestary and it's a nice setting but we either ordered wrong or it's gone down the tubes or we weren't a good fit. I had a green chaya soup that tasted like nothing and Poc chuc, which was described as being accompanied by black beans. It was was a lightly grilled marinated pork piece which wasn't bad but it was cooked on too low a fire and boring. The beans were served in a thimble (well, practically except a thimble might hold more) and it was all on silly oversized plates. No one liked what they had and swore off "fine dining" for the rest of the trip and stuck to ceviches and cochinita. The music was from the soundtrack to an adventure music and it was really weird, to say the least.

I am holding in my hand the new version! Thanks to a very good friend who dragged it back from Mexico for me (it is HEAVY) I now have it. The cover isn't as bad as I had been led to believe. It's a little too simple but it's fine and serious. The inside looks great and the images look more like they're from the same source instead of all over the map. I immediately went to the bean section and it's a little disappointing as I found one mistake right off the bat and they sometimes use the Latin names for the beans and sometimes not. There are only a few so each bean listed deserves recognition. I don't see the extra 200 pages that are in it but I don't have my old copy here for comparison. It looks and feels about the same size, but the graphics are tighter and it's the same mix of small entries and longer ones. It's going to be hours of fun. The big question is whether to replace your old version or not. And do you wait for the English version. I;m keeping them all.

Thanks all. The old timers may remember a time when I was able to hang out and post all over the place, especially on Mexican and California threads. I even met many of my best friends here on eG, even traveling partners to Mexico! I'm old enough to know you don't always work hard and then get rewarded so the success is especially sweet. eGullet has been part of the equation.

Back in the day.....it was the first place you'd look if you needed a larding needle or a mortar and pestle. It's such a sad place now, reserved for newlyweds and the newly rich.

Since those are regional chiles to the American southwest, you might find it a lot easier to use guajillos and anchos instead of NM dried chiles. ( I think the strings are called ristras.) For the fresh Hatch replacement, I think you can't find a better fresh chile than a Poblano anyway and you see those everywhere, although sometimes erroneously labeled as "pasilla".

This place was incredible. I think we just ordered two of everything. In Merida

Sorry! I misunderstood and thought you were looking for culinary souvenirs to take home. Where I got that idea, who knows??? Sorry.

You can try saving the seeds of the chiles and growing them yourself. I think the unusual chile there is called Xcatic. (Someone will correct me, I'm sure.) Also you could try and bring back the recados- pastes ground from annato seeds and seasonings and other good things. There's a classic red, a black for stuffed turkey and even one for beef. Chaya leaved would be great but I don't you'd get them through customs.

We started importing a great chocolate and there are many good Mexican chocolates out there (oK, a few) like Mayordomo. WHat's the best way to make this drink. My memory from Mexican visits is that's it's a thickish drink, almost a gruel, with masa and chocolate. I just received the book Muy Bueno, which makes all sorts of claims about authenticity and traditionalism (danger signs, in my mind) and the recipe for champurrado is almost like a thinner than thin chocolate milk. What is the way to make it from somewhere like Oaxaca or Chiapas? (This book is pretty and well-intentioned but it's really about Mexicano-American food from a Texas family. It's not Tex Mex, it's close to Norteño but it's not all that interesting or essential. The thin champurrado and the fact that the chiles aren't toasted makes me not want to explore the rest of the book much)

They look pretty good from here! If the sauce is too thick, you can thin it out with a little chicken stock. I like to dip, stuff and roll and then move on to the next plate. I think three or four is a lot. Normally i make two plus salad and beans on the side. But when all are assembled, then you can pour over the extra chile sauce (that's hopefully still hot) and then crumble a little cheese. Conventional wisdom says that older, slightly stale tortillas don't absorb as much oil and are better to use than super fresh ones. I don't know if it's really true but I always hear this and follow the advice.

In general I hate potlucks. I can see if it's an odd collection of people, like a church or political group, or PTAs but it drives me insane when a friend will declare a BBQ and then ask you to "bring something for the grill". I host a lot and love having my guests enjoy themselves. I see potlucks as a way for people who should be hosting to get out of it. Once a year, bite the bullet and make your friends feel welcome, important and like guests. Of course some people love to help and will offer to bring something, and most bring at least a bottle of wine (although really this is supposed to be a gift for the host) but guests shouldn't be subsidizing your social obligations. I'm probably alone in this. And I don't get invited to many potlucks!

That's super. I now prefer wood but there was a time I preferred metal. I can see wanting both. I don't think you can have too many fountain pens or tortilla presses.

So it's about the heat? Poblanos aren't normally hot except for the odd one, which keeps things interesting. But the Hatches I've had are kind of bland (and from Hatch, NM). I wonder if it isn't all the smoke flavor they take on the excites people. If you want to experiment, you see chilacas more and more in the stores. They have an almost nutty quality. They're long and thin and worth checking out.

I am going to have to duck to dodge all the chile membranes that will be thrown at me, but I do ask this sincerely. What is the big deal? I compare them to an Anaheim and I see what's nice about them but I think your average poblano chile is so much more delicious and rich. Just the right amount of flesh and once in a while a little heat. What's no to love? Hatch chiles are fine but they strike me as bland.

I poach a chicken a week. I cut it into pieces and gently poach with onions and garlic. I take the breast pieces out first and then leave the rest as long as I feel like it. I strain the chicken and chill the broth. The chicken gets used throughout the week, sometimes even fried in chicken fat. If I'm ambitious, I skin it and place the skins on a tray and render them in a very low oven for hours. The results are chicken fat and super crispy skins that hopefully make it into a salad. If I haven't made soup, I poach next week's chicken in the the previous week's stock. There's very little waste and lots of good food for the price of a chicken!

Our Haas avocado leaves taste like nothing. I believe it's a particular tree that has the fragrant leaves.

Fast food chains aside, I think when you salt while cooking you can control things and use less salt because you are salting the entire dish. Salting at the table can lead to oversalting because you're just sating the surface, not the whole piece of food.

I personally wouldn't make a pot of beans just to have refried beans. You make a pot, eat some as pot beans, some for a salad, maybe a soup and at one point make refrieds. I love to reinvent the pot. If you use good lard and good beans, you don't need all the other flavorings. I cook white onions until translucent in lard then add cooked beans and their caldo/pot liquor and the smear the beans and onions into one with a bean masher (machacador). A potato masher is fine but you want to run the masher along the bottom of the pan, mashing the onions and beans into one. At one point, I never returned home from Mexico without a machacador, but I think I have enough now. If I were doing black beans, I'd follow Janeer's suggestion to to add epazote. If we had access to Oaxacan avocado trees, I'd sub the dried leaves for the epazote.

yes, Rachel had said that her friend would never have done that in Guanajuato. I do see it a lot in Oaxaca, and not just with the Mole Amarillo. And like you say, it's delicious. I'll have to try it with all vegetables, as you point out. it's funny but reading this I sound insane. "Wet masa" ! Me, too. Especially when I cook with my clay pieces.

Yes,.

Normally they're dried on the ground and apparently our government doesn't want us exposed to a lot of things that might be there. So we're using a fabric to keep them off the ground and limit the exposure to the elements. We're also working with organic bug sprays instead of the heavily used pesticides that are very common, especially after several bad growing years. I'll go into more detail when it's really a success.

Thought I'd share this image. It's a batch of chilhuacles using a technique that is very organic and we think will help us get through the border faster. The production chiles are still on the plants but if all goes as planned, we should have these for sale by Christmas. And I found some local guys in the north bay who are growing and drying yellow costeños! I'm going to try and see if we can get some.

It's funny coming back to this thread after all these years. So Gunajuato is a no but now that I've travailed and asked a lot more, it's not uncommon in Oaxaca.