Smithy

Aha! That's what it is. I thought it was an orangey-yellow thing atop some layer of white cheesey stuff. I didn't think about its being an egg, sunny side up, with a very firm yolk. Thanks.

What's your assessment of the texture and taste?

Back when our family used to get together for Christmas, I often ordered one of these to share around. I think we especially loved the apricot and almond fillings. Gosh, that brings back memories! We all loved those kringles!

What do you think that reddish thing is, just below the upper bun? More tomato? Looks almost like persimmon to me...but I hope it isn't.

It's good to know that the chopper is what you want! If you should decide that you would like to acquire some knife skills, or improve them, then I recommend this excellent course from the eGCI (eGullet Culinary Institute) archives: Basic Knife Skills. The associated Q&A is no longer active, but you can still learn from the course. I did. Lots. 🙂 Edited to add: there's also a great course on Knife Maintenance and Sharpening in those archives.

Interesting that with all the caveats they gave it 4 stars. From what you say, and what that review says, this one doesn't tempt me.

I'm with heidih and blue_dolphin: in general I prefer to use my knife because the cleanup is easier. My husband is exactly the opposite because he hasn't cared to hone his knife skills. We have an alligator chopper that he uses for onions and potatoes, like this: It has 2 grid sizes, for fine dice and large dice. (Incidentally, if he's going to be doing both onions and potatoes he does the onions first. The potatoes clean out the grid afterward.) It should be noted that he first has to slice the onion and/or potato into rounds so he can lay each round flat on the grid. We also have an inexpensive egg slicer such as blue_dolphin discussed. Again, it's because my husband prefers using it. That slicerr cleans pretty easily. We also have a Moulinex that I bought on eBay thanks to the Cheese Shredder topic (see here). I like it for shredding cheese and slicing things, but have never tried it on eggs. I think it would be more trouble than it's worth for that usage.

Thanks for that information about the chiles. I hope you can find some good restaurants at Bullhead City, and that some of them make good chiles rellenos (if you like them). Let us know what you find out! I was going to recommend a place in Needles, near the Rio del Sol Inn, for when you started branching out from your new home, but it appears to have gone away. Too bad. Juicy's Riverfront Cafe (I think it was called) was our preferred place for dinner and breakfast when we stopped in Needles and stayed overnight. That was a few years ago, though. I can't find them listed anywhere now, but if you should gt up that way and find them I recommend them. Edited to add: the last Tripadvisor notices I can find for Juicy's are from 2013. I think they must have changed names (and ownership) since then.

@Porthos, I thought the same thing. Maybe I'll paste a smile on mine once in a while. 🙂

That's really a bummer. You may find this topic to be an inspiration and/or help: Help! I've lost my cooking mojo and I want it back!

I guess I'm not quite done after all. Here's an interesting side note on the chiles rellenos. Back in 2021 I asked at The Pink Store about what chiles they use for that dish. In that post I wrote: So maybe they use whatever they can find of the right size. I'm pretty sure this time around they used poblanos, though. Whatever they use, their chiles rellenos are the best I've ever had. By the way: I am really enjoying my new hanging stars. I'm glad I bought them. I may have different feelings when it's time to change trailers, but we don't know when that will be! 🙃

I was going to ask whether you think the layout works as well as with the print book, given the pullouts you showed. Then I decided, 'what the heck'. For 3 bucks I can find out for myself. My sales resistance is low today!

I have one last Columbus restaurant report, and then I think I'm done until we move on tomorrow. Six years ago, I was delighted to discover that an old wreck of a building at the nearest highway intersection had been refurbished and was opening as a new restaurant. I wrote the story of its refurbishment, soft opening, and owners here, but here are a couple of pictures from that post: I stopped by briefly again in Nov. 2017, and they seemed to be doing well. Business was booming. I'd have checked them out and reported fully again in Nov. 2020, but by then the pandemic was in full swing and the park in Columbus where we camp was closed. All I could do was snap photos and see that they were open for takeout. In April, 2021, they were managing to hang on despite the pandemic. I was disappointed to see that they'd dropped their Middle Eastern offerings. The updated menu was what I'd call standard American and Tex-Mex stuff. Our burgers that night were good, although cold because they were take-out, but the place had become just another burger joint to me. I wished them well, but didn't expect to be going back. Still, I've followed their business and career with interest. I've never owned or operated a restaurant, and have no desire to do so, but my time here on eGullet has taught me that it's a difficult and dicey business. Last time we stayed here (a year ago? I can't find any notes about it) I learned that the couple had split up and she was running the place on her own. Here it is now: The offerings had changed, based on the lettering outside the building; the beer and wine are new. Obviously the exterior had changed.... ...and the place is closed for a month. I managed to catch Adriana when she stepped outside for a moment. She's redoing the place: eliminating the grill offerings, sticking with easy things like pizza. She's looking for a food truck, which is how she started out in the business; when she gets it, she may use this building for special events of some sort. She said she simply hasn't been able to find reliable help. The grill is especially demanding, and she's come to feel like a slave to it. Her experience was that she'd spend a month training help and then they'd leave. What about pizzas? I asked. How will that help? "Oh, pizzas are easy!" she said. Maybe she means frozen pizzas cooked in a pizza oven. I dunno. I've never seen a soft opening and grand opening except here, much less witnessed the life cycle of a small restaurant. I hope the changes work for her, and the restaurant's new life is a good one.

@Senior Sea Kayaker: I'll have some of those grilled tomatoes! I discovered grilled tomatoes during my first trip to England, and experienced a true English breakfast. What a treat! What is peameal bacon, please? I can't make it out in the photo.

I found it in RecipeGullet. Thanks for posting it back then, and for remembering the name so clearly now! That makes a world of difference for the seach. My Spanish Teacher's Chiles Rellenos, by Nancy in Pátzcuaro

Yep. Looking back, I can see I was on a chiles rellenos kick beginning in 2018. In no particular order, there are: @Darienne's topic on her version, here An attempt in Nov. 2018 Another version in Dec. 2018 A Christmas 2021 effort (how could I have forgotten it already?) There may be more, but it's fun to look back on these posts and remember what I've done in the past. I'd forgotten all about them.

Crab-stuffed peppers sound wonderful. You have the advantage of great access to crab meat, and I rather envy you that! I have made a chile relleno casserole, more than once, probably from different recipes. I think if I look back through this topic I'll find one or two versions. The beauty of it was that they were open-faced and much easier to deal with than all the fiddly stuffing and frying.

I may come down to that decision. This batter was soft, not crispy; I liked it, but I may decide that this is a dish better purchased than made at home.

Thanks for that explanation. Do you batter and fry them too, or just eat them stuffed as you describe?

I had my second chile relleno for lunch today, and learned more about its construction as done at The Pink Store's restaurant. As a reminder: this was the original dish. Under all that sauce and cheese at the right were the two chiles. What I reheated today was the final chile. I'd long since finished off the rice and beans. The cheese turned into a large surface glop during the reheating process, and I didn't bother photographing that. This collage shows the final bites, and what I learned about the construction. The chile had cheese and sauce inside it; a delicate fried coating (I bet it involved an egg batter and cornstarch or even rice flour) and the aforementioned sauce and cheese as toppings. The upper left picture shows an exemplary bite. When I got to the stem end, I learned that they hadn't removed the seeds or the stem. Those I threw away after getting the last bits of coating and sauce off. It looks as though the way they make them is to roast and peel the poblanos, then slit along a side to fill them before coating and frying. They apparently remove most of the ribs, but don't bother with the lion's share of seeds. Not a problem, though. This is still the gold standard for me as I start trying to make my own. I went in search of Mennonnite cheese today, without caring to cross back across the border to look for it in Palomas. The little store near me had a couple of candidates. The clerk said their queso asado is closest to it, but he also sold me on another mild cheese. I'll make tasting notes later.

I thought this would be a good opening to remind folks of our Molé Cook-Off, way back when. But when I looked at it, I discovered that it's strictly for Molé Poblano with a bow toward other molés in the introduction. Hmm, maybe we have another topic for a Cook-Off.

This seems so (heh) foreign to me. In the United States there only recently has been a relaxation of the standards for cooking pork, to make sure trichinosis is not an issue. Was that never a problem in Germany?

I have the same question. Is it cooked? It doesn't look like it.

My darling is in burger nirvana: he's eaten hamburgers THREE DAYS IN A ROW! I didn't show you the Burger King whoppers we ate in Deming. We'd finished our shopping and were faced with a 35-mile drive back, and were too hangry to think straight. They were filling. He claims it was his first burger in months, not counting our Superburgers. He adored it. The next day we were in Palomas, and you've seen that burger. Yesterday I finally convinced him that we should have a late lunch at the Patio Cafe. The Patio Cafe is a small place across the street from the public library. It has a great reputation. Problem is, it's only open from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on weekdays. Our recent experiences notwithstanding, we don't usually have large meals in midafternoon. I convinced him that we needed to try it. 3 burgers in 3 days convinced him. This sight startled us when we pulled up to park. How long has it been since you've seen a working pay phone? The Patio Cafe shares a building with the Tumbleweed Theater, which occasionally still features shows (of the stage type, not the screen type) although it isn't the going concern it once was. Still, there's a side entrance from the Patio Cafe's courtyard to the theater. It was too blustery to want to sit outside. In we went. (I shot this just before we left. The place was full when we went in.) @heidih, I wish I'd seen your speculation about oilcloth before we went here. I'm pretty sure it's the same stuff as we saw at The Pink Store. It probably is oilcloth, but now I can't go back to check! Eventually the waitress came over to greet us. It was already 2:20 and we apologized for coming in so late. Was it too late to get something, given that their closing time was 3? No, she said, but it had been a very busy day and they were out of almost everything: pork, chicken, soup...the litany went on. We said we'd come in for burgers. She brightened. "That we can do!" She gave us menus. My darling's face fell when he spotted the pork tenderloin on this next page. He'd love to have tried it. When he looked at the burger list, he brightened right up again. "We'll have to stay here another 2 weeks so we can try everything!" he quipped. We placed our orders. Our waitress told us we'd gotten the last two burgers! They really HAD run out of inventory, and they'd had to turn another potential customer away. While we waited, we discussed the decor. American kitsch, I think I'd call it. Our lunches were HUGE. Wildcat Burger, with tots, for me. Green chile cheeseburger, with fries, for him. The table had mustard and ketchup, and the waitress brought us mayonnaise when we asked. My darling kept wondering what his burger was missing, and finally decided it had been Miracle Whip. We hadn't thought to ask for that. I don't know if she could have provided it. The onion slices were a bit skimpy, but these burgers were massive anyway. We shared a few tots and fries with each other, and he was good enough to give me his pickles. He ate his entire burger, but brought fries home. I ate all my tots, but brought about half the burger home. I just finished it for a late breakfast. Even half of it was huge!