rancho_gordo

Sophie Coe's book was a huge influence on me and really made me think about my business, even though beans are a little neglected except Scarlet Runners. Is there a definitive Sahagun book in English? I'm currently reading The Mexican Dream or The Interrupted Thought of Amerindian Civilizations by J.M.G. Le Clezio (that's a mouthful!) and he ponders where Mesoamerican culture would have gone had it not been for the conquest, which killed the culture in a generation, leaving behind some of the worst gifts of Europe. He quotes Diaz and The True Story of the Mexican Conquest a lot and to show how advanced they were, they always go to the descriptions of the markets. Do we know if they ate iguana eggs? I know they eat turtle eggs in Chiapas and elsewhere, much to the dismay of many.

But the eggs would have been turkey or duck, wouldn't they? Do iguana's lay eggs? (Sorry to be nitpick. That looks so good and I am so hungry I might be irritable!)

Kalypso, I'll be your date. Three stars, kind of like you'd think. The duck was plain, with a crispy deep fried wrapper, then smothered in mole. I loved it. It was kind of too much, but that isn't a real problem for me.

Sounds like a good couple of meals! I liked Azul Condesa a lot but I think there's room for it to redefine itself. It's so much nicer a room than the UNAM restaurant but it's new and I think the kitchen is still developing. My favorite (and i think it's one of those flashes of brilliance that Ricardo brings to the table) is the duck bunuelos with black mole. Talk about plotzing! There were other dishes but this one made me hit high C.

Again, no one said Tarbais are mandatory. But I completely disagree about flageolet. they're fine in a cassoulet because they have thicker skins, are incredibly creamy and are known for not falling apart or turning mushy. They're green when raw but turn tan after cooking. The Greek Gigandes I have do fall apart. And you lose me completely when you suggest limas. Lima beans have such a strong vegetable flavor, I can't believe anyone would use them in a cassoulet. And for the record, tarbais are very different. They are a great bean and have an unusual potato-like texture without the flavor. Whether they're worth it or not, it's up to you. My point is why go to so much trouble and use a crap beans? To me it's like putting an ice cube in good red wine. But vive la différence!

This sounds sweet and simple, but I couldn't disagree more. Not everyone can look at themselves objectively, physically or otherwise. I grew up looking in the mirror and hearing my father tell me I was fat. I grew to think I was morbidly obese. I look back at my childhood photos and i was chubby, at worst. This tainted me for life. I look back at photos of me in my 20s and 30s and wish i could tell myself, relax, you look fine. I might add, you won't believe what's coming down the road! Sorry if I'm reacting. It stuck me like saying if you want to lose weight, just don't eat so much.

Oh, that's clever. And a use for that bottle of Arrowroot that's been sitting around with nothing to do! Had a debauched 4 days in Kansas City (arrogant Californian asks, Kansas City- who knew?) including all the booze I wanted, BBQ (Bryants and LC's), farm dinners, restaurant dinners, a home dinner and brunch at Lidia's and I only gained a pound! Now all I really want is boiled vegetables for a few days but I wonder if three weeks on WW helped the attack of rich food.

There's also a really cheap version combined with Southwest the Beautiful or something like that. I got it at Costco for $15 or so.

Chicken is pretty close to duck. Is it ok to sub that? Hot dogs for sausage? (Sorry- I'm being snarky but I think beans are THE essential part of the cassoulet.) I'm not saying you must use Tarbais. I'm saying if you're going to all the trouble, why use a crap bean like a Great Northern, which are nothing like a Tarbais? Use a runner cannellini (very close) or a flageolet, which are creamier than a Great Northern yet have a thicker skin so they won't break down in a cassoulet the way a GN might. My staff and I eat a lot of beans. The Tarbais are just plain different. And pretty incredible on their own. We won't be charging $35 bucks a pound, by the way.

I wonder if they don't keep the goals absurdly low for insurance reasons. Do you have a pre-existing condition if you're "obese"? I agree about the WW culture. I couldn't do it if it weren't for the web version, which i think is the opposite for some people. They like the meetings. I much prefer tracking 49 points to 2,000 or so calories.

I'm still in it. Just a little frustrated. in the meantime, there's an app called WW ScanClac and it is amazing. You scan the barcode of a packaged food (like Trader Joe's Tikka Chicken Masala) and it comes back and tell you the points per serving! I don't eat a lot of packaged food but when I do, this will come in handy.

Since you've asked, we were set to participate and I feel like we dodged a bullet by backing out at nearly the last minute. As a vendor, it wasn't a great experience. But it's an interesting experiment and I hope you continue to improve it and make it relevant. I know there's a problem finding the economic model to pay for good journalism and food journalism in particular. I think the jury is still out.

Well, I stuck to the program, even had extras points and I'm up half a pound! How the hell did that happen? It arrived with other bad news so even though intellectually I know it's part of the "journey", it's too soon to say for sure that WW works for me. Is it going to be soup for the rest of my life?????

Re-reading this thread, a little wiser, but to be pedantic, masa harina is also pre-ccoked. The differences would be the grind and the nixtamalization of masa harina.

If insects are a good source of food, and healthy, we owe it to ourselves to get over ourselves. These were delicious: I've also had crickets in Oaxaca. I can't imagine not liking them. In a real sense, it's no weirder than eating the seared flesh of another animal.

Vegetables ate free too. And plain chicken broth. So, does anyone have clever salad dressing ideas? I like oil/vinegar, ranch, blu cheese- I like it all but I like to use a lot of it. I thought Fage and Salsa would work. It didn't. Any clever ideas or so I need to learn to like a drier salad?

I was lucky enough to meet Chufi (and Herr Chufi) on their world tour! (Hi!) I made a real winner on Monday. We have fresh xoconstle (sour prickly pears) in one or two of our Mexican markets and I've always heard about this dish so this weekend it was a go. Mole de Olla (Pot Mole) calls for beef but I had chicken and it was still great. You roast then peel the xoconostle and them to a pot with stock, the chicken, previously made chile sauce, Mexican oregano, cumin, epazote, green beans, corn, zucchini and let it all simmer. I calculated two points a serving and it's really good and filling. I also made a more traditional caldo tlapeño with chicken, garbanzos, chipotle in adobo, tomatoes and queso fresco. I think this is all going to be just fine!

It feels something like a miracle to me, but I've officially lost my first five pounds. I think I like WW a lot. You can obsess and be a real cook or you can ignore it, just as in "real life". You don't have the rush of losing 10 or 15 pounds like you do with a "diet" but I imagine you don't gain it back as easily either. I'm impressed! Today's lunch was 2 ounces of poached chicken mixed with 2 spoonfuls of Fage 2% yogurt and 2 spoonfuls of green salsa I'd already made (in a molcajete, for love's sake). I had four tacos, using all the mixture and four corn tortillas. I also added masses of chopped romaine. Mexicans don't eat a lot of greens with tacos but I love them. 6 points in total and lots to eat. I also think the fage and salsa would make a good salad dressing.

I seem to count beans as 3 points per half cup. I think this is based on the canned, even though I obviously never use canned! But half a cup is a good sized serving. It's about what I normally eat per day, though usually as a side dish on its own. 6 points with a 29 point max is a lot. 6 points at 49 points seems more than reasonable. I love soup but if losing weight meant eating more soup than I really would like, I don't think I'd do it. prasantrin, maybe you could sign up online as part of a promotion and get your points total from them. That just seems so low and what's the point of being hungry? I want you to be happy and eat well, especially if you're a size 8!

AMEN! I would add stirred, not shaken. And all the glasses and the glass pitcher and glass stirring rod should be chilled. re guacamole: avocado, onion, cilantro, salt, serrano chopped, lime juice. If I am feeling festive and gay, pomegranate seeds. Never garlic.

I guess I'm a real sad case because I get 49 points! I don't think I could do this on 29. Or not for a very long time. I don't know. It would be soup all the time! I ended up eating three tacos and tortillas are pretty filling. And I easily could do without the queso fresco. Twyst, I think the only reason I can do WW is because it isn't restrictive. I've never eaten much processed food. It's quantity and timing that do me in.

I love the flavor. I remember once when my son went to our Mexican babysitter and when I picked him up in the evening, his hair smelled like corn oil. I wondered if he would be as delicious as one of Maria's enchiladas! I'll just assume the answer is yes, or even more. But I do know my health conscious friends hate it because it's all GMO now. I don't know this to be true, although is seems likely, but I was told there wasn't an organic version on the market now.

I blush! Thanks. And check out Revival Meats in Houston. They just started carrying a lot of our stuff, including the posole. Handy for last minute bean needs! I've seen Tarbais for as high as $35! I didn't taste the seed we planted but the resulting beans were incredible. Maybe not 35 bucks a pound incredible but very delicious and different and I think "vale la pena". If we can produce them in California as well or better at a better price, all the better.

A friend came in with some great mushrooms so I made this filling for tacos: I sauteed onion and garlic in 1 tsp of olive oil. When soft, I removed them and turned up the heat and cooked the mushrooms. When they were done, I turned down the heat, added back the onions and then added 1 big spoonful of my previously made chile sauce and 1 cup of chicken stock. A little epazote and then done. I added some queso fresco but it wasn't essential. For points, it was nothing for the mushrooms or stock. The oil was a point and each tortilla was one point. The chile sauce was also a point but I didn't even use one portion so it was likely even less. Queso Fresco is 2 points for one ounce. Anyway, it was great and easy.

On the flipside, can I say how hard/weird/unnatural it is to have a camera focused on you and a big fuzzy mic boom almost touching your face? I give them all credit. I really rate them on whether they know their stuff. I find Alton Brown abrasive but I admire him. I think most Italians would be confused by the stuff Giada DeLaurentis produces. But some of this stuff is about personalities and some of you go for the jugular!