shelora
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Posts posted by shelora
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Lucky me is right! We have lots of farms here, and when the Mexicans moved in, people were a bit miffed. I was thrilled! And now we have a grocery store entirely devoted to the Mexican clientele, and they make the very best sandwiches for $3. Now I can get real lard, real chorizo, and all of the chilis one could want. They think this Irish girl is nuts.
Wow! What a great story. And what are you going to do with your bunches of romeritos?
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That makes sense. It is Lent, and they had huge dried shrimp at $20 per pound, which I passed on, but I was wondering, Why? They had, like, 200 pounds of these things, and we live in the middle of nowhere.
Thanks, Shelora.
Lucky you.
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I bought a pound of this, because I cannot pass on a vegetable or herb in this part of the country that I have never seen before. It looks like rosemary, but is soft. The leaves are smooth. It may be soft because it may be old, I don't know. The folks at this Mexican grocery store did not speak English, and my Spanish is poor, but I did interpret something about it being used in Mole sauces. Any clues? And if you know exactly what I am asking about, what do I do with it? I figured I'd steam it and douse it with some sort of sauce. None of my four Mexican cookbooks seem to describe this.
Off the top of my head and hoping for the bonus round, my guess is romeritos.
Edited to add:
Romeritos, according to the a description provided by D. Kennedy in her book, From My Mexican Kitchen, are "stringy little greens that grow wild...narrow, round, juicy leaves about 1 1/2 inches long, grayish-green in colour and while they donot have an aroma, they are acidic like nopales."
They are traditionally used in a Lenten dish of dried shirmp fritters served in a mole. Although they are not my favourite, I've eaten them a few times during the Christmas season in D.F. You can enjoy them on the menus at Fonda del Refugio and at El Bajio.
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You take the poisson d'avril, place on a pine plank. Season well with salt pepper and maple syrup. Place between foil and under iron on linen setting. When the smell is just right, remove from under iron, discard fish, eat pine plank.
Even funnier!
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I am very surprised to learn that this is not a common practice in other parts of the country. In rural Quebec, we traditionally make our toast with an iron. Hey, I never even owned a toaster!
It also works great with other things, like grilled cheese or reheating pizza.
It is also a traditional cooking method for fish. WhenI was young, we used to cook our very first catch of the year with an iron. In early spring, on a day like today in early April, we would get up early in the morning, as soon as the ice had melted on the St-Laurence and go fishing for a little knowned but delicious little flying fish. I never knew it's real name. We would only call it 'le poisson d'avril'. Back home, our mother would cook it whole with an iron. Great even if a bit difficult to swallow!
I love how nobody got your April Fool's joke Francois ... genial.
Funny, I was loving how everybody got it and ran with it, including Shelora. A T-Fal iron?
Edit: Oh wait, T-Fal irons really do exist. I hope poor shelora isn't scouring the markets for little April fish to steam with it...
Well ha ha. I guess an iron would be hard to swallow. Very good.
Went right over my head.
And the iron I use to give my slacks that crisp look is now the same one that flattening and melts a perfect grilled cheese sandwich everytime. With a t-fal coating.
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I thankyou for your iron suggestions but I just forged ahead and plugged in my new clothes iron with the T-fal coating and pressed myself a cheese sandwich.
Sorry, I do not have a photograph because I couldn't wait to try this.
I took two pieces of Baurenbrot rye, chosen for its squishability, but not so squishy as to be Wonderbread ( I just couldn't do it).
Slices of orange cheddar (I can still do that!) and blobs of frozen unsalted butter on top on the bread.
I placed the sandwich in between two pieces of foil, set the iron to cotton and pressed.
Checking at intervals, this technique took no time at all, less than two minutes a side and voila! grilled cheese sandwich, nicely toasted and flattened. Mmmmmm.... good.
I'm off to make a slice of toast.
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Ah the joys of growing up in the booming town of Asbestos in the 70s. Remember when grandmere used to heat up that 15 pound iron on the coal burning stove ... the bacon never tasted better. But of course you had no temperature control on those big heavy fothermucker irons in those days so when you added the bacon to the bread & cheese, your bacon/fromage grille inevitably burned. And how could I almost forget about that Quebecois tradition of dishing up some good ol poisson d'avril! My understanding is that today is the most popular day for this dish. Although I never tried cooking some up using an iron, if anyone has any tasty recipes to share let's hear 'em.
Five minutes left to answer. You take the poisson d'avril, place on a pine plank. Season well with salt pepper and maple syrup. Place between foil and under iron on linen setting. When the smell is just right, remove from under iron, discard fish, eat pine plank.
All your postings on this subject have made me so happy.
One technical question on the iron. Does anyone know if a T-FAL coated iron will work just as well as an iron with a pure metal?
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I just received this e-mail from a friend
I had a cat. It was named Simon. Simon was a real trollop. He went from restaurant to restaurant begging for table scraps. When he came home, he'd tell me all about them-which ones were his favorite, which ones had his favorite fish, which staff treated him nicely, and others who were rude and disrespectful. I'd go and check out these places for myself, and form my own opinions. A national newspaper asked me to review restaurants. It was a blast, because I got paid to eat. I could be as rude and silly as I liked. In other words, I could just be myself. However, some days, I just wanted to write about Simon. Simon's always there when I need him. When I need a quick list of Mexican restaurants--he comes through. When I'm craving casual Italian, Simon gives me a few tips. Lately though, Simon's been bothering me. I don't think he's being completely honest with me. I don't know what to do. Perhaps my therapist will help me out with that-but wait, I don't need a therapist, I'll just write about it in my column. Thousands of Canadian citizens will help me figure this out. Phew! Maybe I should start an advice column where people can pay me to solicit advice for my own shortcomings. What a scam! I wonder what Simon will say.
Life is what happens when you go off topic.
Yeah. What she said.
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I need some ideas for food that can be prepared ahead, at home, transported to a place close to home ( a couple of blocks away) and then sold (and eaten) on the street.
It's for a festival where most foodstuff on sale is of the brownies and chocolate cookie kind, and the savoury stuff is mostly hotdogs and fries. So I'm looking for something savory yet healthy, flavorful and interesting.
It has to be cheap to make otherwise I'll make no profit
Another rule is that is has to be something you can pick up with one hand and eat on the go.
Yet another rule is that ideally, it should be prepared the evening before, and taken to the venue very early the next morning (in a cooler)
My ideas sofar:
wraps with roast chicken and tarragon mayo
wraps with marinated tofu, grilled aubergine and corianderpesto.
I'm sort of stuck on the wrap-thing. I would like to do something quiche-like but I'm afraid it won't be sturdy enough.
all ideas welcome!
Vegetarian samosas. With a sweet-ish dipping sauce. Guaranteed to sell like hot cakes.
I say stay away from meat and mayonnaise.
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I think Johnny Depp did that in Benny and Joon. but he was making grilled cheese sandwiches.
Funny you should mention grilled cheese. A friend at dinner last night regaled us with his grilled cheese days at college.
He would make a grilled cheese sandwich by first spreading the required amount of butter on both sides of the bread, wrapping it in tin foil and set the iron on the cotton setting. Proceed.
I shall report back once I have done both toast and grilled cheese.
Cotton setting.
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If anyone has watched CRAZY, the award-winning French Canadian film, you may have noticed the food sequences.
I am smitten by the Mom making her son "iron toast". Flattening and toasting pieces of white bread with her iron. She performs this domestic duty on her kitchen counter.
Is this a typical French Canadian thing? It looks rather tasty.
Well, can we try this at home? Any pointers? What setting on the iron?
You got to be kidding!
I'm dead serious.
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Is it Dinnerworks? It is around that area, but on Third.
Thanks, that's it. Should have gone with initial thought of W 3rd. Interesting that their PR piece features Mexican Lasagne, as was the case on the carreer.tv piece on Edmonton's Dinner Revolution.
Anyone who starts tauting "Mexican" lasagne as part of a "revolution" should be spanked.
Spanking not included.
Bravo, Glenys.
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If anyone has watched CRAZY, the award-winning French Canadian film, you may have noticed the food sequences.
I am smitten by the Mom making her son "iron toast". Flattening and toasting pieces of white bread with her iron. She performs this domestic duty on her kitchen counter.
Is this a typical French Canadian thing? It looks rather tasty.
Well, can we try this at home? Any pointers? What setting on the iron?
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Is it Dinnerworks? It is around that area, but on Third.
Thanks, that's it. Should have gone with initial thought of W 3rd. Interesting that their PR piece features Mexican Lasagne, as was the case on the carreer.tv piece on Edmonton's Dinner Revolution.
Anyone who starts tauting "Mexican" lasagne as part of a "revolution" should be spanked.
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Fortunately our older relatives are damn near deaf, so it makes no difference. They're just grateful that they have been removed from the confines of home for a few hours.
What they do love and what la Regalade is famous for are BIG portions. It always makes them think they are getting their money's worth, even though they aren't paying and they usually end up with a doggy bag for later.
I have never found the restaurant particularly loud, just normal buzzy, which our relatives love for the distraction.
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I would improve the recipe slightly. I suggest using a fruit vinegar like apple cider or if possible an authentic pineapple vinegar and whole peppercorns over granos (which i interprete as grains).
I have made a few different versions in the past, sometimes with whole chile jalapenos that I have sliced through from the bottom so they cook through, but otherwise left intact through or with small dry chilies like moritas or small smoked chilies from Oaxaca.
I'm not your recipe calls for enough vinegar though. Have you made it yet?
I did par-boil my ingredients, particularly the carrots I used and whole heads of garlic. So yes, do cook the potatoes a bit.
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Also, apparently they change the oil for the deep-frying on Sundays, so if you want fresher-tasting spring rolls, Sunday evenings or Mondays would be your best bet.
Really. Saturdays must be really grim.
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Deep frying gets done in our house once a year for arrancini.
I hope we get the heads up for that event. Wouldn't want to miss it!
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I had to order everything ahead of time. So next week I have both the bison short ribs and the caul fat at one time! This is a frustrating part of living on the island. Occasionally you just have to wait.
But I'm looking forward to my adventure.
s
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Only eight bottles left at the Fort and Foul Bay store. Run.
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Just purchased a case of the Juan Gil at the Arbutus store. The person who found the wine for me (it wasn't in the Spain section but against a wall - who knew?) raved about it and said it was a wine one simply had to buy by the case. I did. Hope he's right - I need more wine like I need a hole in the head but I couldn't resist a raving BCLDB employee.
Arbutus still has at least 3 cases left.
Ah yes, thanks for reminding me. I served that wine at a catering function the other evening. I had never seen it before. Very earthy. It is the Monestral varietal, correct? Which is mouvedre in France?
I'm off in search of a few bottles.
Thanks again,
Shelora
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Has anyone heard what Claire Archibald is doing these days? Has she opened another restaurant?
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Horseradish= "raíz fuerte".
Buen provecho,
Panosmex
Thankyou. (Strong root). Excellent.
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Oh I am in a nasty mood today. Sorry I have to inflict it on you all, but........here goes:
Let's hope they hire an entirely different kitchen staff than Steamwork's.
Here's the nice mood - Love the concept though.
A great concept indeed. I'm hoping they can do it up right.
Personally, I'd like to see an oyster/chowder bar over a steak house. But what the hell do I know?
labour shortage in the hospitality biz
in Western Canada: Dining
Posted
A few restaurants over here have limited their hours, claiming a labour shortage. Some have closed for the dinner hour at least one night a week and another closed for dinner period.
I have heard numerous stories over the last week from restaurateurs desperate for good employees.
Same thing going on in Vancouver? Where did the employees go?