andiesenji

Me too! And I actually hate real bananas... totally shameful, I know. :-) I'm on board. I like bananas but the Cavandish - the only variety available except in ethnic markets, simply doesn't have enough banana flavor - even when I use the method favored by Cook's Illustrated. " The artificial banana flavor tastes more like what I think of "banana" than the real thing.

Cornbread! I have tried hundreds of variations, both regional and "flavor" additions, but I always return to the traditional southern type cornbread. Nothing else really can compare - to me personally.

The WinCo store in my area is a very nice store and is in a prime location. I like their bulk grains, cereals, pasta, pilaf, couscous &etc. As there is a great deal of ethnic diversity in the area, even those products have a rapid turnover. I don't buy candy but their prices are excellent and the specials on seasonal candies are less than other stores. I like that it is an employee-owned store. I even like bagging my own groceries.

Fantastic photos, Heidi. Am anticipating a brilliant blog week. I love your garden - if I lived closer you would find me on your doorstep.

Try breading and frying them like okra. It is out of this world good. Like a citrusy green bean. and to the OP, masa, sour orange and nopales. They are chopped and blanched, not whole, not raw. When whole I usually stuff them like rellenos but I bake them on a base of masa.

You can use mineral oil - it takes repeated applications over a period of many weeks with rubbing the mineral oil onto the slab with a soft towel. or We had soapstone in the lab at work for many years and it was treated with beeswax and was a lot of work (done by the installer) but when it was done it only needed wiping with a disinfectant and a bit of buffing with a soft cloth. The beeswax was melted and spread thinly on the counter and buffed with a thick sheepskin buffing pad (electric buffer). Water beads up on the surface and up until the time I retired in the spring of 2007, there had been no staining since the counter was installed in 1985.

Looks impressive. Mazeltov!

And speaking of Anson Mills - this article about Glenn Roberts, the guiding light of Anson Mills - is an excellent read. His take on the nuturing of heirloom grain (and other plant) species is an essay that explains why and how such enterprises are so important to our future. I know that all of us have read bits and pieces of this information over the past few years but this article puts it into one concise and quite complete format. We need many more people like this man.

What dishes have you already prepared with Nopales? My go to Nopales dish is the Ensalada de Moctezuma... you grill (griddle or roast) the whole, trimmed pad and let it cool to room temperature. Then you mount it with slices of good quality tomatoes like the Zebra heirloom varieties (which originated in Oaxaca btw), you top those with a dollop of Guacamole Verde... eat with a knife & fork.. it is great as a substantial first course... when I want to make a meal of that.. some Sopa de Habas (pureed Mexican Lima Bean soup with simmered diced nopales slices, swirl of Chipotle salsa & sprinkling of Mex mint or epazote) I had an omelet with nopalitos for breakfast - too eager to dig into it to take photos. I think my all-time favorite recipe isthis version of pork ribs except I add twice the amount of nopales. I also make a shredded chicken dish with nopales - no recipe, I just put together carmelized onions, chopped and cooked tomatillos, nopales and one or two Anaheim chiles and one jalapeno (stewed in a little water. Seasoned with salt, pepper, cumin Mexican oregano (from Rancho Gordo) and some chicken broth.

In Southern California, if one lives near a store that carries it, there is Broguiere's milk which indeed, tastes the way milk is supposed to taste. No store up here in the Antelope Valley now carries it but there used to be several - all now taken over by other chains or closed. I have to drive down to Santa Clarita to buy it at the Whole Foods market. Huell Howser - on PBS has done two shows over the years about Broguiere's and there have been mentions in magazine and newspaper articles, as well as a large number of online posts A couple of weeks ago one of the Charlie Sheen bits that was widely aired shows him holding a bottle. I know someone who lives at June Lake and flies his own plane down to the El Monte airport twice a month to pick up a few cases of Broguiere's as well as produce and other supplies for their B&B that are not readily available up there, especially in the winter months. If any milk could be said to be addictive, this is one. The Strauss Family creamery milks are also very good but I like Broguiere's better. I particularly like milk in bottles, it may be my imagination, but it just tastes better.

Shel, After writing my post yesterday, I late thought about the vanilla I use when I'm preparing large batches of baked goods for fund raising events, and also the multiple bread pudding loaves that are sliced and fried for "mock" French toast. For that I buy a large bottle of the brand carried at Smart & Final - 16 ounces, as I recall. It is a pure vanilla extract and quite strong. Very good in baked items and in eggy dishes and excellent in whipped cream and ice cream. Since you are in California, I'm pretty sure you are near enough to a Smart & Final to find this, if you need a lot of the product.

I now have a bag of nopales my neighbors brought over. Now I just have to decide what to do with them.

Yes, but you can't tell the difference by tasting it straight. The best way to compare is to put one drop into a teaspoonful of cream, allow it to blend for several minutes (10 or more) and then taste. The Neilsen-Massey and TJ's are good so is Watkins that may not be easy to find. I have tried the various products from The Vanilla Co, sold thru GourmetCountry And in my opinion they are superior to the others I listed. That being said, I make my own.

I think you have hit on the exact thing that bothers a lot of people new to tea drinking when they read some of those tea reviews. There are a few basic terms that anyone can understand and they have been used for generations, such as "malty" which I think goes back to the early 1800s. Some oolongs do have a distinct flavor of peach some Indian teas taste a bit like chestnut and that too is a term that goes back a long way. However, those highfalutin terms that some tea folks use are confusing, not to mention intimidating, and not all that informative to a novice. If someone has never tasted moscato, how can they determine that flavor in a tea? I don't understand some of the terms they use and I've been drinking tea all my life, beginning with "cambric" tea in the nursery. If a tea tastes good to you, then you should enjoy it as you wish and to heck with anyone else. I like some teas with milk and sugar, some with plain sugar or honey, some with lemon and some plain. When someone begins telling me how I am supposed to drink my tea, I am on the way out the door. And I like flavored teas, at which some tea fanciers turn their noses up. If I want to drink my tea out of an old tin cup, that's my choice.

Olives! I can't eat just one - I can barely stop at a dozen of the big ones and I have to pay attention, put just a few in a little dish and put the container away. Otherwise I will find myself with an empty container with no idea of how many I consumed. A few are good but too many = too much salt = fluid retention and elevated blood pressure.

I've always loved milk and drink it every day. I really have a problem drinking non-fat milk. It may be healthy but it has a flavor I don't like. My cholesterol and triglycerides are low so I'm not worrying about it. The only things I did not eat for a number of years were melons because one of the allergists I consulted told me I had an allergy to melons. I carefully avoided eating them for at least fifteen - twenty years until I had an interesting (and delicious) salsa that, after consuming quite a bit, I learned was made with melons. I had no allergy symptoms so I tried a melon on its own, no problems. Since then I have consumed melons with no problems at all. Apparently the allergist misinterpreted the scratch tests on my back or had one mislabeled. In any even, I am very happy, I love melons!

That sounds really good. I happen to have a head of cauliflower in my fridge so I'll give it a try. Will have to modify the recipe as I don't have all the ingredients mentioned. You think it'll be ok to use some lemon juice instead of sherry vinegar (don't have any). I do have rice, malt, Chinese black, apple cider, white and a lovely blood plum vinegar. You can use any kind of vinegar that isn't the "raw" distilled stuff. Balsamic, cider, plum, etc., or use lemon juice. All you need is just a hint of the acid "bite" to brighten the flavor. I have in the past, forgotten the vinegar in the bread crumbs and drizzled it on after baking.

This page on About.com Has a fairly complete list of things to stock in the Mexican Pantry. One thing no one on this forum has mentioned (or I didn't see) is tamarind paste or tamarindo I keep this always on hand because there is nothing quite like to to sharpen the taste of a stew or meaty soup. I shopped at Vallarta Supermarket today At present I have some huge plantains some little red bananas 4 large poblanos 4 Anahemi chiles a pound of tomatillo milpero a small bunch of the little bulb-type Mexican onions Lemons Limes (Mexican) 1 huge Mexican papaya brown onions from Mexico some cheeses fresh pork neck bones (Espinazo de Puerco) chorizo de pollo (have never tried chicken chorizo before) Costillas Norteñas de Res (Beef Flanken Ribs) lots of meat on these guys. I also purchased from the prepared foods 1 Platillo de Pollo en Mole (as listed on my receipt) con Arroz, Frijoles y Tortillas. That was my dinner and was very good (and no work) indeed!

I talked to my friend on the phone a little while ago and he says he make up a slurry of peppers, Everclear 190 proof and "some oils" but was not very forthcoming with any detailed info. I think he is planning on marketing the product so I can understand his being a bit reticent to divulge his exact process. He did say that one of the oils is very expensive so it wasn't something most people would want to fool with. He works outside in a shed because his wife won't let him into the kitchen with the hot stuff. She says whatever he does takes several days and is not an instant process. Even she does not know the details. Sorry I couldn't get more details.

Appreciating tea should be an individual experience, as much as appreciating a particular genre of literature. I like tea. I was raised in a house where tea was an institution but so was coffee. I have a friend who was born and raised in Ireland, drank tea almost exclusively for the first half of his life but since living in California since the '80s, he rarely drinks tea as he has found he prefers coffee. Another friend, a neighbor, raised in the south, never had much appreciation for tea, except for the occasional glass of iced sweet tea. Then she discovered TEA in its various interpretations, about ten years ago and has become wildly enthusiastic, so much as to take a trip to India two years ago to visit several tea-growing districts. She had read some novels from the late Victorian and Edwardian era, when afternoon tea was a significant break in the day and she began her tea "journey" by setting aside an hour, after getting home from work, to prepare and enjoy tea, along with the tea sandwiches, cakes, scones and etc., about which she had read. I know because I did some baking for her until she got the knack of it. We have a little tea shop here in Lancaster, where she began purchasing different teas and then went further afield to the more fully stocked tea vendors in Pasadena, the Valley and in L.A. She only recently got a computer and is online and is now retired, so she orders some of the more exotic teas that pique her interest. I have a lot of teas, I use them up rapidly because I have a lot of visitors who like tea, but my "collection" of teas pales beside hers. She has a very large French armoire in which she stores her tea and tea things. I always feel a bit plebeian when she is visiting and I brew tea in one of my "gadgets" and serve it in a mug instead of a cup and saucer. But, that's my preference. You just have to do what works for you. I usually advise people who are starting to learn about tea to buy a few teas that are distinct varieties such as a malty Assam, a Nilgiri, a Darjeeling and one of the Sri Lankan teas and these can be drunk alone or blended to get just the taste your prefer. One green tea - a China Keemun or a Yunnan is a good start, add a gunpowder if you feel adventurous. One Oolong - a Ti Kwan Yin And those are all you really need to begin. You don't need a fancy tea pot. I recommend starting with the Ingenuitea because it can brew one to 6 cups of tea (depending on cup size) and is relatively inexpensive - and fun to use. The 16 ounce is really too small unless for travel. I'm not a huge fan of tea bags unless there is a tea that is not available loose. When you are starting out and learning about tea, get the loose tea, which is always of much better quality than the stuff that goes into tea bags. That being said, if there is a particular flavored tea that floats your boat and is only available in bags, such as the Stash teas, go for it. You won't know the difference unless you try both. My everyday teas are all loose teas and I adjust the amount I use by either using a tea caddy spoon if broken tea or if big, whole leaves, I weigh it.

Here's my "go-to" recipe for cauliflower. I can't recall when I first began using it or where I got it. I have made some changes since the original recipe used different ingredients. Baked whole cauliflower You can use one large head of cauliflower for 4-6 people or two medium heads for 7-10. wash and remove all the leaves and cut the stem so the center is below the shoulders of the cauliflower. Use a steamer basket over about 1 inch of water in a sauce pan into which the cauliflower fits and can be tightly covered. Steam for 20 minutes it should be slightly tender. While the cauliflower is steaming gather these ingredients: 6 tablespoons butter (salted) 1 medium garlic clove, finely minced or put through a press 1 tablespoon sherry vinegar – 3/4 cup fresh bread crumbs - medium to coarse 1/8 cup grated Grana Padano cheese use parmesan if you must. 1 heaping tablespoon of grated Sap Sago (if you can't find this just add the same amount of Grana Padano) 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper (I prefer white, but use what you have) 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg Pinch of kosher salt Pinch of herbs de Provence Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter a casserole dish of a size that will easily hold the whole cauliflower with an inch free around it. In a small skillet brown the butter add the garlic and cook for 1 minute add the vinegar, stir and remove from heat. Toss the bread crumbs with the remaining ingredients. Drizzle the butter/garlic/vinegar mixture over the bread crumbs toss well so the mixture is evenly moistened. Place the cauliflower right side up in a casserole dish spoon the bread crumb mixture over and around it. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes until the bread crumbs are slightly browned. Sprinkle with pimenton if desired. I recommend that you do try to get the Sap Sago. It has a flavor that is a bit too sharp on its own but a little goes a long way and it enhances dishes that would otherwise be sort of bland. This is a very "forgiving" recipe and can be modified in numerous ways to fit your tastes. Don't be afraid to experiment. You can serve it with a cheese or white sauce on the side, if you wish or a condiment such as chutney, etc. Andie

Brad's stuff is certainly hot, before he dilutes it, a drop on the skin will burn and he makes his own pepper spray for when he hikes in the foothills because around his place there are feral dogs, coyotes and the occasional mountain lion. He has used the spray on feral dogs and it worked. I'll call him tomorrow and ask if uses anything besides water to cook the peppers.

I know a chile-head who makes a nearly clear hot sauce for his own and his friends consumption. He uses a stovetop steam juicer and cooks outdoors because the fumes are pretty powerful even with the closed container. He uses a combination of Scotch bonnet, yellow habanero, manzano or rocoto, and some odd little white peppers called Peruvian white lightning. He uses a "secret" blend of flavored vinegar to finish the sauce which has a sweet note, if one can stand the heat. I can't taste much besides the heat, no matter how much I dilute it but I will ask if he is at all willing to share. He did some cross pollinating with the latter last year and is hoping to grow an even hotter pepper this year. He did say that the SS cleans completely but if one wants to make regular fruit juice in the steamer, you have to get a new plastic tube - the capsaicin can't be removed. I'm pretty sure I mentioned this in a similar discussion a couple of years ago. I've known Brad for twenty years and he has been an enthusiastic chile-head as long as I have known him.

That is GENIUS! Thanks. One caveat, do not let the blender run for too long and with nothing that is hot or if there is any defect at all in the glass. The glass of a Mason jar is not strong enough to resist expansion/contraction with the heat concentrated in the rim and shoulder area. I have a scar in my left cheek as the result of such a jar that exploded while grinding nuts for a cake topping, using an old Oster blender. I still wore glasses then and had I not, I could have lost an eye.

I often chop and crush pineapple skins and the core, boil them in just enough water to cover until it has reduced about half and the mass is soft, then add it to one of my vinegar "works." However, I don't use just pineapple, I add other fruits that have gone a bit past their prime. Pears that have become very soft, peaches and etc. Makes a nice, fruity vinegar.