andiesenji

This might be of interest. Melinda Lee, Food New host on KNX 1070 My Webpage which you can listen to online. Is going to be explaining how to make vinegar during the next hour this morning. It is now just before 9 a.m. here. Melinda is very good at explaining how things work without visual props.

If you are referring to the black olives seen in most American markets, they are ripe olives that are harvested by placing a net around the base of the tree and shaking the tree so the ripe ones fall into the net. They are processed pitted and canned in their own juices without pickling, salting, fermenting or drying as is common in . There are also different varieties of olives and some have thicker flesh and smaller pits which allows them to hold their shape. There are also the "green-ripe" olives, such as Graber Olives. I believe that here in the US more green (pickled) olives are sold. These are often pitted and stuffed with all kinds of things - at one time the only ones seen were stuffed with pimento, however I recently saw a veritable wall of olives in one store that had olives stuffed with garlic, jalapeño pepper, habanero pepper, almonds, pepperoni, cheeses and a couple of other things I can't recall at the moment.

If anyone plans on making their own, an easy way to do the bends is to get a wire bending jig. Like this! You can often find them in hobby shops. It is small, only about 4 + inches long, and can be screwed down to a board or work bench - I have one back in my studio that is screwed to the top of a cheap wooden stool I got at the unfinsihed furniture place for $3.00 because part of the top was damaged on one side. The stool is just the right height so I can sit in a chair and work on the jig. You just draw your design on paper, then start at one end of the strip and make the first bend to conform to the pattern, then work your way down the strip of metal until the pattern is complete. It is much easier to control the bends when you have both hands free. This little tool is cheap for what you can do with it. You can also use it to make decorative things for your kitchen

I suggest that you try some of the pepper mash from this place Jim has done the primary work for you and the product is excellent. I do warn you that it will become addictive. I know others on the Chile-Heads list who have gone deep into making many, many hot sauces.

I have a 30-year-old commercial model and the newer Super 5000, and bought that because at the time they had a deal so I got the dry container for grinding grains free. I don't use it much anymore because I now have a grain mill. I recommend the 5000 over the 4500 turbo because the turbo has only two speeds. The 5000 is variable speed from very, very slow to vrooooooom....... Order direct from Vita-Mix here Unless you can find one on ebay. There have been several in recent months. As long as the seller backs it up, and the price is significantly lower, go for it. Note that the home models have a 7-year warranty. You can get a Vita-Prep from J.Hufford that is the commercial version that only has a 3 year warranty. J.Hufford shipping is free.

If you go back to post #17 in this thread on page one, you will see the recipe I got from my neighbor, a native of Durango, Mexico. I have had a lot of enchiladas in my life and these are the best I have ever tasted. You don't even have to cook the chicken yourself. You can buy one of the inexpensive rotissiere chickens at the market to save time. If you do, pull it apart and sprinkle a little lemon juice over it and toss it a bit and let it set for a few minutes. Lime juice is okay too.

All Black and Decker small appliances were originally GE. B & D bought most of GEs small appliance patents when GE opted out of the small appliance field in the early 80s. Now GE is again producing a few small appliances. For many years, in the U.S., it was GE and Sunbeam who produced the best small appliances and they were neck and neck. Toastmaster was next in line and the rest trailed along. I remember visiting one aunt, when I was about 12, and mentioning my grandma's Sunbeam toaster. Aunt Louise replied, "We have only GE appliances in this house!" I was suitably admonished and never mentioned "that other brand" again during my visit.

Marlene, Apparently Wal-Mart has this GE 16 inch x 12 inch deep skillet That is about as close as you can come to the Presto Dutch Oven and the price is right. The Presto skillets are not as deep but have the 12 x 16 cooking surface. If you have a Wal-Mart near you, give them a call and see if they have them in stock so you can at least look at it before you buy. It doesn't say if it is dishwasher safe, however it does have the removable control which usually means the appliance is immersible. I also have a large round Villaware non-stick electric but it cost over $100. and I only use it when I need an additional one. It doesn't seem to heat as rapidly as the Presto but that might be my perception (sometimes I get a little impatient) of the time.

I didn't realize that the question was meant to produce a response that supported a particular bias. I am sorry that I bothered to answer as apparently my experience is not "expert" enough. Sorry to have wasted my time and any others who bothered to read my posts.

Cooking.com has two Russell Hobbs water kettles in stock. They also have a large selections of others. I am partial to my old Russell Hobbs, the one with the odd round plug as it was one of the early imports, converted to US current. I have several others but since having a hot water dispenser installed at my sink, I rarely use them. I have one of the Chef's Choice cordless which is quite rapid, as is the Braun AquaExpress. Mainly these are used when we are outside and also I have one in my bathroom as the master suite in my house is a long, long way from the kitchen. I saw one kettle in BBC Good Food a couple of years ago that I was hoping would cross the pond. The entire kettle changed color as the water heated, from blue to pink and I thought that was jazzy and I am into collecting the odd and etc., in appliances.

I did not get my La Chamba pot from Nidia. It came from a local restaurant that imports them from Columbia (one of the owners goes home twice a year and brings back supplies and ingredients he can't get here in the states.) My Spanish is not so good and the other owner, from El Salvador, has some English but we had some difficulty in communicating. He said to soak the pot for half an hour or so - I didn't realize he didn't include the lid in the soaking instructions. I should not have soaked it. My pot is a bit different from those sold by Nidia. The handle on the lid is a loop instead of a knob. The pot itself is fine and I used it on the gas stove with no problems, after I finished the "curing" and cooked some milk in it.

(Sorry guys. Roadrunner got wacked by Wiley Coyote so I have been off line for a while and playing catch up.) No. That isn't how it works. We still get cold snaps during the winters and sometimes hard freezes, particularly inland. My new digs are actually on a peninsula that sticks out into Galveston Bay and is really a microclimate somewhere between zone 9 and 10 according to the county agent. I have seen plumeria trees in yards. Banana trees regularly bear fruit. But, due to the cold snaps, folks started putting out the tender plants like tomatoes, peppers and eggplants starting a couple or three weeks ago. You may get fruit set up until July. Then it gets too hot. If you take care of your plants you can sometimes start to get a bit more fruit when it starts to cool down in late September. That is if a hurricane hasn't blown your plants away. What we have of "winter" is used for lettuces, root crops, cabbages and such. The point being, many climates are just not as easy to deal with as some others. Having a tool like irradiation in the kit could make life a lot better for producers and consumers alike. ← The heat here in the desert is very tough on many plants, as is the wind which, when combined with 100+ temps (temps up to 115 are common), can cook a plant in an hour. The solution is shade cloth and a misting system. The shade cloth is on home-made frames (made by one of my neighbors) that is sort of like the "convertible" top on an old buggy. The rods that support it are pushed into the ground at varying angles so the wind (usually out of the west) is blocked as is the overhead sun. Combined with that are sets of misting or fogging nozzles that throw out a fog, using surprisingly little water, and effectively cooling the area by 10 to 15 degrees. This allows tomatoes, peppers, eggplant and curcubits to bloom continuously through the hot spells. Some plants like the direct sunlight but the wind is damaging. For those we just use shade cloth wind screens stapled to 3 posts which can be pushed into the ground easily with the "V" of the center post facing the direction from which the wind is blowing. Spending all this time and money on produce may sound odd to some people but the quality is far superior to anything I can buy and this is the sole reason I do it. If I had that countertop irradiation appliance it would be in constant use.

I was just checking on availability and apparently, although Presto still shows it at their website, it is not currently on any vendors in stock list. I saw one not too long ago at K-Mart and also at Gottschalks Dept store in Palmdale. I will check to see if they have any in stock. It wouldn't hurt to have a backup, just in case, since I use it a lot.

I have several electric skillets but the thing I use most is the Presto Dutch Oven seen here It has many more uses than a skillet and is great for carmelizing big batches of onions. It is dishwasher safe and it gets used a lot outdoors for fried chicken, fried fish - will hold two whole fish easily. I took it to the eG potluck last October for the wild boar carnitas in verde sauce. It heated the chilled meat in short order. I also use it for heating/serving roast pork loin on top of a bed of carmelized apples. It is very versatile and I think it is a real bargain at this vendor. I paid $69.95 when I bought mine a couple of years ago.

Andiesenji, while looking through your messages trying to find one on cream soups, I ran into Mrs. Obregon's dulce de leche recipe. Oh joy! Thank you for posting it. I've already printed out & made multiple backups of her enchilada recipe. Maybe you should start a Mrs. Obregon thread. Now back to the subject at hand. About 7 or 8 years ago, riddled with guilt over the price, I picked up the phone & boldly ordered a Vita Mix. I've used it just about every day since it came. Every morning I start out with a lovely, creamy smoothie. As someone else mentioned, it makes a killer cup of Mexican chocolate with a head of foam worthy of a pint of Guinness. I have occasionally ground wheat into flour & it does an excellent job. It hadn't occurred to me to make cream soups in it. I hope Andiesenji elaborates a bit more on this. Pat ← I don't often use a recipe for making soups, particularly the ones made in the VM. In speaking of the 2-soup combos which look so pretty in the bowls, I was thinking of the combo of black bean and white bean soup that goes so good with Mexican meals. I just pour it so it is half and half in the bowls. A chef friend used to pour it so it would end up in the yin/yang design. I was never able to achieve that degree of precision. Another is a combo of carrot/ginger/sorrel soup with avocado soup, these can both be served hot or cold. and the gold/green combination is beautiful. Another combo I make quite a bit is a roasted red pepper soup combined with spinach soup or broccoli/cheese soup. Any cream soup can be made in the VM. One does need to saute the aromatics in butter or oil first and do any pre cooking of the vegetables, roasting or steaming (I steam carrots, celery, etc) and then the cream is gradually added at the very end of the process as the soup is being "cooked" by the blender.

I am not a "tasting expert" and never said I was. However, I was born and raised on a farm in western Kentucky and we had an extensive kitchen garden with several varieties of tomatoes and since I grew up in the 40s, they were all "heirloom" but to us they were just the tomatoes that grew best in our area. Over the years since then there has rarely been a time that I have been without a garden of some kind, always with tomatoes and always the best tasting and usually grown from seeds saved from the previous crop, occasionally a new one added when it was recommended or I tasted one I liked. I have tasted tomatoes taken from the same plant, some irradiated and some not and there was not a whit of difference even after they had been kept, without refrigeration, for 8 weeks. I have taken part in tasting competitions as a judge of fruits and vegetables, fresh and canned, at our local fair. I know what I want in a tomato or strawberry or whatever. I drive up to Tehachapi for blackberries, because they are better than any I can buy commercially, even at Farmer's Markets. Anything that makes better tasting foods available is A-OK in my book.

Pork shoulder is perfect for Pork Chile Verde I can't find my own recipe at the moment but this is almost exactly how I do it. The only difference is that I don't make it low fat. I use the pork as-is !! I did wild boar in chile verde sauce for the eG potluck last October and everyone thought it was terrific. The melding of flavors is excellent, nothing else quite like it.

Almonds are grown near my home and there are a couple of U-Pick places that allow a limited amount of picking of the green almonds. There is an Almond Festival. I don't recall exactly when it is but will check with the C of C later today.

As I mentioned earlier in this thread, or I think I did, there was an earlier thread also.... I love the VM for making and cooking cream soups. When several things are being prepared at the same time I often would forget to stir a cream soup and just a tiny bit of scorching ruins the entire batch, that vulcanized taste permeates instantly. Cooking them in the VM solves the problem and produces a wonderful creamy soup that is just perfect. I have two, one old one and once in a while I will do two soups at the same time, of contrasting colors and pour both in the bowl at the same time. This works beautifully with the VM - something that I never was able to do quite as well with using two ladles. P.S. Regarding chicken. I have pureed an entire chicken, bones and all, that had been cooked in the pressure cooker until the bones were soft. I didn't do it for soup, it was for dog food, but it tasted okay - I tasted it.

I am sorry that some of you "aren't buying it" as noted earlier. In discussions I have had with small farmers, who have only local outlets for their produce, they say that if there were portable irradiation units available to use close to the field source, it would mean that they would be able to treat and ship their (vastly superior to factory farm) produce to markets much further away. And "Irridation" is the use of radiation to affect something one would have to use the phrase "treated with radiation" - using one word is easier and conveys the same information. A person who is irradiated for cancer is treated with radiation - they are not radioactive themselves, neither are fruits or vegetables. This tool, and that is all it is, has the potential to allow more competition in the marketplace, not less. If better-tasting, healthier produce can be sent to market by small farmers, don't you think shoppers would opt for the product that tastes better? Of course they would, except for the Luddites. That would, in turn, force the factory farms who turn out tasteless produce to re-think their options and go back to the heirloom produce that tastes so much better than the hybrids that were developed simply for shipability and appearance, not for taste. There are different levels of radiation treatment and it is selective. Lower levels will kill off harmful bacteria and parasites without affecting the genetic material. Several generations of plants have been grown from fruits that were irridated with no evidence of mutation and this was all done long before any commercial applications were put into operation. There are far worse dangers in this world than this.

I bought one of the Chamba pots and soaked it for an hour. Part of the handle on the lid crumbled away. Has anyone else had that happen?

Some of the people around here pickle them. I don't know where the tradition originated. They are Portugese and Sardinian.

Absolutely wonderful! An enormous amount of work and it is sincerely appreciated. Thanks so much for all your efforts in bringing back this fantastic resource.

I don't recall seeing it mentioned yet in this thread but it's myrecollection that many spices fall into a different food consumption labeling category under FDA standards and have been getting irradiated for quite a few years now - with very little publicity about that fact. ← You are 100% correct. Most spices sold by the major traders are indeed irradiated. This is especially desirable in mixes containing seeds and etc. The Salad Seasoning mix sold by McCormick, at one time had an expiration date because they knew that after a time bugs would hatch in the mixture. The bottles no longer have an expiration date featured prominately on the label.

Fruits are "born" so to speak, with a built-in breakdown factor so they will rot and expose their seeds to insure the next generation. Irradiation stops this process. It also destroys molds and spores and bacteria that get onto the fruit while it is growing and also parasites that colonize fruits, fruit fly eggs that are laid onto the fruit and so on. It does not, as happens in humans and living plants and animals esposed to radiation, destroy the immune system because that has already shut down at the time the fruit is picked. Therefore the fruit is not more suseceptible to new infestations but can be colonized by new molds, newly laid eggs and etc. The main thing is that fruits and vegetables can be held and shipped without refrigeration without being destroyed by natural break down of tissue. What does this mean in the long run? It means that we can return to growing and shipping HEIRLOOM tomatoes and fruits that have more flavor because they will not need the special handling and growers will not have to grow the tasteless, but nice-looking tomatoes that can be shipped across country and arrive at maket looking good but with no taste. Now anyone who wants to argue about how irradiation won't make any difference can settle for the tasteless stuff that is now available. I have been an x-ray tech for more than 40 years. I tell patients all the time, when they say they are worried about too many x-rays, just this.... If you fly across the country you will get more exposure to x-rays in 4 hours than you will from getting a dozen procedures over a 2 year period. X-rays go through aluminum like it isn't there and that is what the skin of aircraft is. I have been exposed to a lot of radiation over the years and am not worried about using irradiated food. It is safe and a good thing. Good, fresh food can be brought to market cheaper and will last longer and feed more people. Many of the nut cases who are clamoring against it are the same ones who are against children being vaccinated for diseases. Consider the source!