andiesenji

I have eaten javelina (peccary) many times. My neighbor brings them back from his ranch near Durango, Mexico. They are a pest because they tear up their crops and also compete with their goats for food on the open range. They are also dangerous to people. They aren't very big but are very aggressive. They do make good eating.

The flavor is pretty much the same as domestic pork. It has more color, the flesh is reddish pink, it looks more like the pork I knew as a child on the farm. That was of course before pork became "the other white meat" and lost a lot of its flavor. I used about a pound of pork belly fat in the meat otherwise I think it would have been pretty dry. You can see a strip of it in the close up picture. I have never noticed any "gamy" flavor to wild boar. I think it is the way they feed. I have a note that this one was taken in Mendocino county. It is probably the same way that elk is more like beef and also has no gamy flavor because they graze like cattle. Deer, on the other hand, eat a lot of tree leaves, bark and such and develop a stronger flavor. They are also a lot more active whereas elk tend to stand around or anble slowly around their range while deer do a lot of running. Most of the venison I get is from mule deer because most of the hunters go up to Utah to hunt. Occasionally one will show up with a whitetail but that is pretty rare out here.

I forgot to note that I started out with 14 pounds and after cooking have slightly less than 10 pounds. It lost considerably less weight than I would have expected with regular pork.

After 7 hours cooking in foil I took the meat out, cut it into chunks and moved to a sheet pan. Roasted uncovered for 1 1/2 hours, turning twice so all sides nicely browned. Meat very moist and tender, shreds readily. It is delicious, rich and full of flavor. Close up of piece that I pulled apart with two forks.

About the price, I don't recall what I paid. I got it at Wal-Mart and the big bars were on sale for the holidays in a big display next to all the cookie cutters, pans, etc. At the time I recall thinking it was a really good deal, compared with what I usually pay. As I recall I bought 10 bars. I think I have 2 left. I can't eat chocolate so I have to depend on someone else to taste for me. One of my unfortunate allergies - the other is alcohol........

I chopped it and measured out 10 oz. to which I added 2 oz heavy cream and two drops of almond oil. I melted it in a ceramic double boiler because it was not enough volume to put into the tempering machine. I brought it up to 105 degrees F, then removed the ceramic insert from the double boiler and placed it on a pre-heated heating pad, brought the temp down to 92 degrees and held it there. I dipped the fruit and peel and it took about 20 minutes to set up. I didn't need to refrigerate it, it held nicely at room temp on a tray with a dome cover. The chocolate could be touched briefly without leaving a fingerprint.

In a 30 inch range, to get the most bang for your buck take a look at the Bosch. http://www.us-appliance.com/hgbo30gasfrc1.html Two of my neighbors bought this model, one last summer and the other in December (It was a Christmas present). They both love it. I have cooked on it and the cooktop is every bit as good as mine and cost less... The 15000 btu burner is hot enough to adequately heat a wok and the continuous grate makes it easy to move large pots and pans. The warming drawer is a great plus and one that is not found on every range. If I had to furnish a kitchen with a small range this would be my choice.

I trimmed out most of the inedible bits, ligaments, silverskin, veins, etc., seasoned it, rolled and tied it. Final weight 14 pounds. The aroma is just beginning to escape from the oven - acutally it is stronger outside as the oven vents outdoors and the doors seal quite well (it has optional steam). It just passed the 4-hour mark so has 2 to go, however I expect it is going to take longer. I hope it turns out well enough to serve to friends. My neighbors and I are getting together tomorrow and I plant to serve it. She is making chiles rellenos, for which she has a gift, the best I ever tasted. I am baking bread and her eldest daughter is making tortillas. Mr. Obregon is making the Pico de Gallo (salsa) and I am making a soup from a recipe sent by GiftedGourmet. The son-in-law is making ceviche but I don't eat seafood so won't be able to comment on that. I have plenty of ripe tomatoes and peppers ready to pick and had my gardener pull up a bunch of onions yesterday during his weekly visit. I will wait until tomorrow to cut the cilantro.

I understand they have several exhaust vents that blow the aroma-laden air into the surrounding area. At least I didn't go into the store and buy one.....

I have used all types of premium chocolates over the years with varying results. Last fall I began to hear mentions of Hersey's Special Dark as being a pretty good product. I decided to try it for myself and found it was as good as many of the products I had used in the past. I used it in cakes and also for dipping glacé fruit and candied citrus peel. The March 2004 issue of Cooks Illustrated also found it an acceptable substitute for premium chocolate. The advantage is that for a beginner it is widely available and has a rapid turnover. I found it easy to work with and the price is certainly right.

When I was in Albequerque last December I asked the maid that took care of my room at the hotel in which I stayed about stores that carried local foods. She sent me to Carniceria Cuauhtemoc and a market named All the Americas. Both had a good selection of southwest foods. I also found a Wild Oats Natural Marketplace on my own. I don't have the addresses but probably have them with my receipts. I agree that the local Farmer's market in Santa Fe is excellent. Hopefully you can get the groceries back with no problems. Califronia ag laws are so strict that it is next to impossible to get into the state with any fresh fruit or veg when driving.

Another use is as a base for making fresh pickles similar to a gurkensalat. Equal amounts of thinly sliced cucumbers and sweet onions, say a cup of each. start with 1/4 cup of the orange zest syrup, add 1/2 cup seasoned rice wine vinegar, 1/2 teaspoon celery seed, 1 clove garlic, lightly bruised. heat in the microwave about a minute, remove the garlic clove, allow to cool till just warm, then pour over the cukes and onions press down so they are covered with the liquid. Refrigerate for several hours or overnight. Before serving stir 1/2 cup of sourcream into the pickles. This is a nice counterpoint to a rich meat terrine, paté, chopped liver, etc. The orange zest syrup is also good drizzled over roasted onions.

I spent over an hour boning out the leg of boar and just finished seasoning, wrapping and sealing it in foil and it is now in the oven. It differs from domestic pig by having more massive bone and much bigger veins and tendons. I can understand why the geneticists are tucking human genes into hogs to grow transplants for humans. Those veins were the toughest I have ever seen. I can see one replacing an aorta and lasting a lifetime. The meat is very dense and much darker than domestic pork. I had some frozen pork belly fat from the local abattoir and inserted strands of this into the meat using a larding needle. I am cooking it at 250 F for 6 hours to start. I suspect it will take longer.

That sounds wonderful. I make a carrot/sorrel/orange soup but hadn't thought of tomato/orange soup. Is it a cream soup or ????

There is a spray-on clear adhesive that you can use - make a mask out of a sheet of acrilic (also available at the art store) so you limit the spray to the area of your design. Seeds, paper and other lightweight things will stick to it and when you have your design finished you can fill in around it. Work in small sections, the adhesive stays tacky for some time so that you can reposition anything that is out of place. There is also a paint-on acrilic gesso that can be used and which can be tinted to make the background color you want. Again, plan your design and work in small sections, adding the gesso to the background as you proceed. This is used by artists who make pictures using mixed media with photos, small items cemented onto a background painting.

Recently I had an almost overwhelming urge for a doughnut. I stopped to get gas and the station was next door to a Krispy Kreme emporium and the aroma was incredible, I was salivating like one of Pavlov's dogs. This may not seem too odd, but the fact is that I have not been able to look a doughnut in the eye for almost 50 years when I worked in my mother's bakery after I finished bakery school. All I did for four hours every morning was fry doughnuts, both risen and the cake type. In fact I have scars from a grease burn when the handle of the cake doughnut machine fell into the vat of oil. I would go home at the end of my shift and shower and shampoo two or three times and still couldn't get the smell of hot oil out of my hair. (I worked from 7 p.m to 9 a.m with a break at midnight when most of the bread was in the proofer). Every time I look at a doughnut that comes back to me and there is no way I could pick one up, let alone consume it. I was able to resist the craving this time. That gas station will be avoided in the future.

Make a simple syrup add the zest to the syrup and simmer it gently for 20 minutes. Store in a jar in the fridge, it will keep for about 2 months. For a cup of zest I would use a cup of sugar to 3/4 cup water. Use it in dressings for fruit salads, over ice cream, whipped into a meringue, and use it to "paint" onto chicken or duck during roasting, or on chicken pieces during oven roasting. As a base for marinades. Mix into scones or biscuits. Or if you use the ready-made, in a can biscuits or rolls, drizzle over the tops before baking. Whip into heavy cream for a dessert topping. Stir into plain yogurt. Slice winter squash or pumpkin and brush with the syrup then bake in the oven. Slice sweet potatoes and layer then in a baking dish dotted with butter and drizzle some of the syrup over them before baking. I keep a jar of the orange zest syrup and lemon zest syrup in my fridge all the time. You will think of other things in which to use it if you have it on hand.

I have managed to resist posting on this topic up to now. Carnitas is one of my favorites. While I can buy the cooked meat at one of the local Mexican markets, I like to make my own, particularly when I have a chunk of pork in the freezer that needs to be used. I haven't tried boiling it in lard but I have cooked it in broth in the oven, then cut it into chunks, put it back into the oven with seasonings and allowed it to brown. Not bad.. At present I am thawing a leg of boar, (I have friends that hunt and in exchange for helping them prepare the wild game I get part of it) that has been in the freezer since November and it is time to cook it. I am going to try something different, wrapping it in double layers of foil, sealing it well, then oven roasting it for a long time at low temperature. The boar meat is much leaner than domestic pork and fat has to be added. My neighbors have a ranch in Durango, Mexico and when they come back after a trip to the ranch they sometimes bring back javelina and cook the meat for carnitas. They cook it in lard and it is delicious. Mr. Obregon cooks it outside in a big cast iron cauldron and the aroma that spreads around the neighborhood is fantastic.

Or a mug. Some soups are particularly pleasant served in a mug. I make a spicy squash or pumpkin soup which is great for a cold-weather starter when people are standing around talking and visiting, waiting for the main course. For warm weather I like a carrot/sorrel soup which is good hot or cold.

My favorite way to eat Caerphilly, Cheshire, Wensleydale, etc., is with fruit. Lunch at work is often an apple or a pear, sliced, each slice eaten with a slice of cheese about the same size as the piece of fruit. The flavors enhance each other. For a simple dessert I cut apples or pears into bite size pieces, place in a shallow dish then crumble cheese over the top and put in the microwave for 2 -3 minutes. I love cheeses of all kinds but these pair with fruit better than any other, in my opinion. When I was a child my grandfather always had cheese and fruit at the end of a meal.

I don't think you are wrong at all. There are numerous mentions of green onions "also known as scallions" in cookbooks, on websites, etc. There are different varieties of course. I grow the "green bunching (Oriental) onions which never form a bulb per se. They just get bigger and sent up a seed stalk when they are about an inch in diameter at the base. Same with the Lisbon "white" bunching onion. I have one area of my garden where they self-seed but some of the plants themselves are 2-3 years old, the tops die back in winter but then send up a new green shoot in spring. They are extremely pungent. I leave them alone and just harvest the seeds. There are several clumps growing in containers where the wind blew the seeds. Here in the Antelope Valley in So.Calif., the "high" desert, there are several large onion farms and in recent years they have had "onion rustlers" who go into the fields at night, after the onions have been harvest and are laying on the ground to dry, and load up pickup trucks with the onions, then sell them at the Farmer's markets as "organic" produce. (The "high" refers to altitude, this area is over 2000 ft above sea level as compared to the "low" desert (Palm Springs) which is at or below sea level.) The locally grown onions are not as sweet as the Walla Walla or Mayan, but are great for carmelized onions and in onion soup. With long, slow cooking they become very sweet.

Besides the elephant garlic, have you tried growing some of the newer varieties of garlic? I bought some new to me varieties last fall from Peaceful Valley Farm Supply in Grass Valley, Calif. (can't order bulbs from most states because of ag restrictions). I really like the Chesnok Red variety which matures into a very large bulb and is lovely for baking. It is a hard-neck variety originally from Georgia (Russia). The other new one is named Music and also has very large cloves. They are both grown commercially in Washington state so should be fine in your garden. I wanted varieties with larger cloves because I slice and dry quite a bit of the garlic and slicing the small cloves is a chore. I also wanted a very pungent variety for roasting in oil because there have been so many warnings about botulism in cold garlic infused oils in recent years. I have found that the very sharp and pungent varieties actually become sweeter than the milder varieties with prolonged roasting in oil. Have you tried this?

A profound statement. Utterly true. Pepper has an effect on the tastebuds that makes them "wake up" and the flavors of the food are enhanced. Try an experiment. Take a slice of ripe honeydew melon. Cut it in half. lightly salt and pepper one half. Take alternate bites and see which piece has more flavor. Any melon will do, but the effect is more pronounced with the honeydew.

This should read as follows: To get the peel from citrus, cut off the top and bottom. Then, using a spoon with a rounded tip, such as a soup spoon, work the spoon down between

Sounds interesting. Could you give us a few more details? Do you just dump everything in the crockpot or do you start on the stove first? High or low setting? And any other tips you may have would be much appreciated. I remove the peel from citrus, simmer for 10 minutes in three changes of water (total of 30 minutes) then set aside until cool. I then cut it into fine strips. I press the pulp through a food mill to remove the membrane and seeds. For each pound of peel I use 1 1/2 pounds of sugar and add enough water to the juice/pulp mixture to make up 2 cups. I put everything into the crockpot and turn it to high and let it cook for about 2 1/2 hours, until the peel is very tender and appears translucent. Thicker peel, such as grapefruit may take an additional 1/2 hour. I test it by putting a spoonful in a saucer and letting it cool, If it sets up so it doesn't run off the saucer when tipped, it is done. There are numerous recipes for marmalades on various web sites. I rarely follow recipes exactly. I generally use them for ideas. I have been making these for so long that I generally just eyeball it. Check the archives on homecooking.about.com or nikibone.com. They even have carrot marmalade. To get the peel from citrus, cut off the top and bottom, using a spoon with a rounded tip, such as a soup spoon, work the spoon down between the rind and the flesh first from one end and then from the other. When completely free, make a single cut down one side and you can flatten the entire peel in one long strip. Makes it every easy to cut. I use this method to cut peel for candying. Once you get the knack of this you can go through a dozen in short ov