andiesenji

Jim's products are awesome. The flavor is exceptional and I agree about the habanero powder. I have my "I survived "The Bread" pin here on my desk from a hotluck in which we had a loaf to sample. Incredible. I like some heat but not the extremes. I like flavor as well as heat. The manzano or rocoto peppers are my favorites for using fresh because of their fruity flavor. I save the seeds, dry and grind them to add to some rubs as they have a different but interesting flavor and being black, are easy to keep track of. They also grow very nicely here in the desert.

I still think someone should bring this to the attention of the governer. He comes from a place where people turn out by the hundreds to pick wild mushrooms in season and they are on the menu at every restaurant. I am sure he would see how ridiculous this is and he has stuck his fingers into a lot of pies, why not this one......

I agree with everyone else about using a scoop or "disher" as it is know in the trade. They come in many sizes but the smallest are perfect for drop cookies and if you scoop, draw the scoop against the side of the bowl to compress and remove excess dough, you will have uniform-sized mounds of dough. It is also much faster than any other method, except for using machines. One of my friends is a cook/baker at a private school and mixes up huge batches of cookie dough. In particular oatmeal/bran/raisin cookies which are a favorite. After mixing the dough, she uses an electric food grinder with the long sausage stuffer tube to extrude a long, continuous "rope" of cookie dough which she then cuts with a bench knife into uniform pieces. However she is making hundreds of dozens of cookies at a time. She says she got the idea when watching one of the Food Network shows where they showed how some snacks were produced. She tried it and it worked, particularly with very thick or dense and stiff doughs. I have not tried this myself, I do not bake huge batches of cookies, however it seems like a good idea to me.

I buy direct from Scharffen BergerScharffen Berger I think their product is superior and consistent. I have tried just about every premium chocolate out there and keep coming back to this one because I get consistent results with their products.

It wasn't my intention to imply that the clay comal was inferior, only that SOME of the ones being produced nowadays are not meant for real use in the kitchen but are produced strictly for the tourist trade, just as are jugs, bowls, plates, mugs and many have been made with clay or with glazes that are not safe for food because much of it has a high lead content. I doubt that would be a problem in an unglazed comal but one has to know what one is buying. The Mexican people that I count as good friends like to do some things in the traditional manner but they are touchy about being thought to be uneducated, primitive or unsophisticated. Many of my friends have lived in places frequented by tourists and ex-pats looking for "native artifacts" and understandably feel insulted if these strangers imply that they are inferior in any way. They want modern conveniences the same as we do. One of my Mexican friends owns three mines where Mexican fire opal is mined. He also owns a clay mine and the clay contains a lot of mica and the resulting pottery is exceptionally beautiful. Years ago he used to sell all of his clay to local potters but most of them have moved away or no longer do the work so now the raw clay is crated up and shipped to the U.S. and some to Europe. He has no market for his product in Mexico, which is sad, because this clay would make beautiful and very strong cooking vessels, including comals.

I just asked my neighbor Joe Obregon why they preferred the metal comal and he said it heated faster, didn't break and was much larger, as the clay comals are too small for a big family and his wife did not want to spend all day in the kitchen. He said the only people still using the clay comals in his area of Mexico are Americans and poor people who can't afford the iron ones. The soapstone one they found for me was made in Taxco sometime before 1932 which was when his aunt got it.

For most herbs, I use fresh 2 or 3 to one, depending on how much punch the fresh herb has. They vary a great deal so I crush some, smell and taste.

I have several neighbors who are from Mexico. They all use cast iron or heavy steel comals. I have a very old soapstone comal that one brought me from Mexico but she said that few people use them now as they prefer the metal and most aren't even flat but are shaped like a wide, shallow dish as they put them over a fire in a cut down 55 gallon drum and use them for blistering chiles as well as cooking tortillas. If you ever happened to see Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feinneger's show about one of their trips to Mexico, you could see one of these in use. My next door neighbor has one that is simply rectangular, a thick slab of black steel that fits on one of his barbecues - they use it all the time for cooking big batches of tortillas. (They are from Durango, Mexico and still own a ranch there and go back several times a year.) The red clay comals sold in many Mexican tourist places are not for cooking - they are really for decoration only and made for the tourist trade. I don't know anything about the ones from El Salvador as I don't really know anyone from there personally.

Me too! However I add lime juice and sometimes a little hot chile. The rocoto peppers that have a lot of heat, plus a little apple flavor, "marry" very well with mango and other tropical fruits. It might not be traditional but I like it.

I have a habit of cooking barefoot. Nothing bad yet but I'm sure it's only a matter of time before I'm firing up this thread . . . ← I was glad I was wearing something this morning when I opened the fridge door and a jar of cherry peppers jumped off its shelf and exploded on the floor. I KNOW for sure who was the last one to have the peppers out so left it for her to clean up. I crunched through the shards of glass that were all over the floor, stepped out of my mocs at the door where the carpeting ends and left them to be cleaned also. Yet another reason to consider carpet in the kitchen.

They look nice but I want something with no seams. I sometimes use a power chair and need something that the wheels will roll on without pulling up edges of tile. I have a large commercial carpet machine that will steam clean any kind of carpet but might pull up the edges of carpet tile.

Did you connect via the "Chile Database" link and scroll down to the section where chiles from various areas of the world are listed? That is the hyperlink to his home page. Also you can send him an email at gcaselton@gmail.com with questions or information. The web site itself is vast and has changed quite a bit over the several years I have been on the Chile-Heads digest and first was introduced to this site.

I am seriously considering putting carpeting in the kitchen. My contractor brought me some samples of a cut-pile high density carpeting made for either indoor/outdoor/heavy/traffic or kitchen/bath areas exposed to wet, stains and etc. It is the same stuff that is in several convention centers around southern California and also in several areas at LAX. It has a thick rubber base that will not absorb moisture and is very resiliant. It won't last as long as hard surface flooring but I don't care about that, I want something that will give if I fall and won't ever be slippery. I can afford to replace it whenever I want. It can be fitted like wall-to-wall carpet but can be kept in place by tape around the edges and across wide areas and where joined to other pieces, but the joining fuses the sections together.

They look exactly like the chayote sold here in Mexican markets and known as Mirliton in New Orleans and other parts of the south. ← Thanks. chayote I see from this site that the chayote's skin is wrinkled and of a darker green. Perhaps it is a variety of the chayote. The ones at Carrefour were very light green with real smooth skin. ← The chayote sold here are very light green but some varieties are quite smooth, some are wrinkled and some are dark with a sort of warty skin but inside they all look alike. The one shown here is larger with more 'wrinkles' than I usually see. I have a friend in San Diego that has some of the vine covering a huge pergola in her back yard simply for the shade. She doesn't eat them but picks them and sets boxes of them out by the curb for neighbors and passersby to take. I don't care for them raw, but like the slices grilled on the barbecue and sprayed with lime juice and dusted with ground chile powder. I sometimes add them to my oven-roasted vegetable mixture.

And don't forget Cook Books by Janet Jarvis Specializing in used, rare and out-of-print books. 1388 E. Washington Blvd. Pasadena, CA 626/296-1638 Mecca for the cookbook lover. and in Los Angeles proper NOTE The Cook's Library 8373 West Third Street Los Angeles, CA 323/655-3141

Andie, when are you going to blog for us? You have so much experience and knowledge - and cookbooks - to share. ← Something is in the works, not a blog, but watch for it in late April, asuming all goes well.

They look exactly like the chayote sold here in Mexican markets and known as Mirliton in New Orleans and other parts of the south.

Another foot-covering no-no while working on something with a lot of liquid and/or fat, are the Ugs boots, in particular a brand-new pair of $125.00 ice white high tops. They are still wearable around the house but have been drastically changed by a splash of red-wine laden sauce when an odd shaped roast was turned without getting out the long forks. The darn tongs were not strong enough (or my grip wasn't strong enough) to hold it. My very heavy sweat pants from Old Navy saved my legs but the boots have what looks like the map of Africa on one and an amoeba shape on the other. I tried the Oxy stuff that is supposed to clean anything but no go on this one. The shoe store tried to clean them but that red wine is there forever.

I would like to recommend that your visit Graeme Caselton's web site. Chile database He has the most complete listing (most with photos) of peppers, chile and others, on the internet. Click on "Varieties Database" in the upper left corner. You can also email him at gcaselton@gmail.com if you have a recipe made with a particular type of pepper, the more unusual the better. He would like to have a recipe for every type of pepper. This page explains the different terminology that can sometimes be rather confusing. A caveat - you can spend a lot of time on this website. It contains a huge amount of information about the lovely little fruits with the amazing colors, flavors and degrees of heat.

Beautiful!

I have a bag of Tim's Sweet Maui Onion chips that I picked up at Smart & Final. Actually I thought I had picked up another type but didn't notice until I was in the checkout line that I had the wrong ones. These are pretty good

This is a very old family recipe which gets raves, hope it is what you want. RED VELVET CAKE It is very important to follow the directions exactly. Note there is no baking powder in this cake. The action of the acids and alkaline ingredients mixed in the proper order is what leavens this cake. You must start with all ingredients at room temperature so set the eggs out and measure out the buttermilk at least an hour before you plan to start mixing. 2-1/2 cups all purpose flour (you can also use 1/2 all purpose and 1/2 cake flour for a finer texture) 1/2 cup Crisco (This is important for the texture) 2 large eggs - room temp. 1 level teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 2 rounded Tablespoons cocoa (regular, not Dutch process) 1 cup buttermilk - room temp. 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 Tablespoon distilled white vinegar 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar 2 ounces (1/4 cup)red food coloring First grease and flour 2 9-inch cake pans - or line with bakers parchment. You can also use a large rectangular pan. In a large mixing bowl cream the shortening, sugar and vanilla, beat till fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating each until completely incorporated into the batter, set aside In a cup mix together the cocoa, food coloring and vinegar and set aside. In a medium bowl mix together the buttermilk, flour, baking soda and the salt and set aside. Turn oven on, set at 350 degrees F. Add cocoa mix to shortening/sugar/vanilla, blend. Add buttermilk, flour, baking soda, salt to the batter and blend until batter is completely smooth and looks silky. Pour batter into the cake pans, Bake for 40 minutes, test with a cake tester, if it still appears moist, bake an additional 5 minutes. ICING 1 cup whole milk 5 Tablespoons flour 2 sticks salted butter 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 1 cup granulated sugar. Cook milk and flour until thick in double boiler ( or in a heatproof bowl over a pot of simmering water) Set aside to cool. In a medium mixing bowl cream butter and sugar together until fluffy. Add vanilla and blend. Add milk and flour mixture and beat until completely blended and icing will hold a peak

I made an inquiry from some of my baking buddies and five people referred me to this recipe for very moist and sticky bran muffins that keep well, stay moist and do not dry out.

Wasn't there a scene in The Prince of Tides that revolved around violence and food?

I love it! Would love to have seen his face. Several years ago some friends and I went to dinner at a very well known restaurant in West L.A. We had a lovely dinner and ordered our desserts. When I tasted mine I realized that the whipped cream was soured and motioned our server to the table and very quitely mentioned it and he took it back to the kitchen. A couple of minutes later the chef came to our table with the same dessert and said rather loudly that I didn't know what I was tasting, it was supposed to taste like that. I asked had he tasted it and he said, "No, I know how it is supposed to taste." He then gestured at a nearby table where a celebrity was sitting and said, "Do you know who that is and do you think he would be eating here if the food we served was spoiled." I said, "Yes, I know who he is, in fact, I have worked for him in the past as his personal chef." Then I whispered to him, "I really think you should take this spoon (a clean one) and actually taste the cream on this dish." He did and the expression on HIS face was priceless. He whisked the offending dish off the table, marched back to the kitchen, face very red. I was brought a new dessert, which was perfect, we were all brought espresso and when we asked for our check we were told it had been taken care of. I returned to the restaurant several times over the years. That chef is long gone, but I never had a similar experience, the food was always excellent and the service was always exemplary.