ftmsb

Well, while a bit of a drive from Alamogordo (and a much longer drive from Hobbs), my vote for "favorite small town spots" in New Mexico goes to Chopes in La Mesa (on route 28 south of Las Cruces).

Thanks for the input!

We recently split a cow amongst some friends. One of the cuts of beef my wife and I went home with is the "arm roast." I had never heard of the arm roast before, and in searching around found several references. Interestingly, they were all in the context of CSAs (community supported agriculture) in which other folks, similar to us, purchased a whole animal. My question is this: Anyone familiar with this cut or is it something that comes up only if you happen to butcher a whole cow? Why don't we see arm roasts for sale in the grocery store? Have I just overlooked the arm roast all these years?

Thanks all. Looks like the long and the short might be: stick to the rellenos. Gfron1 - I've followed your Silver City posts from afar, and it looks like y'all have fun in the Gila. I don't expect to make it that direction this trip, but who knows... Burgers at Nellies? I guess I never made it to that part of their menu. I was hard pressed to get anything other than the enchiladas. Dicks used to have decent green chile cheeseburgers too.

Hello all. I'll be spending next week in and around Las Cruces, and wondering if there is anything in the "other than New Mexican" category happening in local restaurants. I'll get my chile fix, perhaps multiple times daily, at old favorites and warhorses (Chopes, anyone?), but sometimes the body desires something different. I've also posted in the Texas forum, seeing if anyone has anything to recommend in El Paso. I haven't lived in Cruces since 1994, and at the time there wasn't anything to get excited about outside of the chile (or maybe there was and my student budget didn't allow the exploration), although the Double Eagle and Meson de Mesilla seemed to be the standbys. From Google, some of the following caught my eye as possibilities. Anything worth pursuing? Marc's European Grill Risotto's Vintage Wines (do they really serve in tumblers? Can you request a stem?) St. Clair Bistro Thanks in advance for any input.

Hello all. I'll be in Las Cruces, NM next week, and in the process may try to make it to El Paso for some eating. I'm wondering if anyone has any opinions on "special occasion" dinning. I'll have the chile options pretty well covered visiting old haunts in and around Cruces. Anything in other categories that shouldn't be missed or that comes highly recommended? Also interested in Jurez recommendations. In particular, anyone have any comments on the following, all discovered flipping through google results: 2900 (food blogging editor for the El Paso Times gushes over this place, but I can't really tell if her column is designed to be a cheerleader for local business as opposed to a critique of local food. No website, so I haven't found any menus or have any real idea what they serve). The Dome (ditto to the above). Greenery Cafe Central Chutney (don't know if this fits the "special occasions" criteria, but there appears to be a new indian restuarant. I'm not real sure where it is though, and how it stacks up.) Mission de Guadalupe (in Juarez. Writer for the NY Times liked it back in 2006. http://travel.nytimes.com/2006/12/31/travel/31Choice.html Thanks in advance for ay input!

QUOTE ludja ←

No, actually it is a new book, though I suspect that the recipe is old. The book is "Brezeln, Selbst Backen" by Hanna Renz. It comes with a nifty little packet of Kaiser-Natron--as near as I can tell a baking soda with a little salt (used for either painting on the pretzels or as part of a boiling bath the pretzels are dunked into). The recipe calls for fresh yeast, though with no fresh yeast on hand I'm trying it with dry. The pretzels are in the oven. We'll see how it all turns out.

Hi, I recently returned from a trip that included some time in the Black Forest. Some friends in the area gave us a local cookbook dedicated to pretzels (bezeln). We're just trying our hand at the basic pretzel, and I'm a bit confused at the technique the cookbook suggests. As a first step, the recipe has me putting the flour into a bowl, making a small well, and dumping some yeast and milk into the well. Along the "flour border" (unsure if this is the border of the flour and milk/yeast or flour and bowl) I place pats of butter and sprinkle on salt. Then let the whole thing sit for 15 minutes. Then I knead into a dough and move on. I'm no expert baker, but I've never run across anything like this. I am wondering if anyone knows what the purpose is of letting the flour rest with the milk inside the well with the butter and salt surrounding? Does this accomplish anything that simply mixing it all together and kneading doesn't? Thanks for any insight. Scott

RE: Saffron They had a really nice palak paneer and I liked the bhindi (?) masala (curried okra). Also tried a daal and mixed veggie curry. This was all on the first visit. Tried the lamb (I can't remember now, perhaps a vindaloo?) on the second visit. On later visits the different dishes started blending all together, both in taste and in memory. Thanks for the info! After reading some of the earlier posts about Curry Leaf I'm pretty excited to try it. Their online menu sounds good...

Hi, Always a fan of indian cooking, so I thought I'd throw my two cents into this forum. In one of the earlier posts there was a brief mention of Saffron, a fairly new place that has opened up on 18th. Anyone been? Its near where I live and we've been a couple of times. On the first trip the place was pretty crowded, the owner was out on the floor seating and taking care of folks, and the food was really good. I made some comment at the time that it was some of the best indian food I had had outside of home kitchens. The owner boasted that they had the most experienced indian chef in Portland. I have no idea who that would be, but I did like his food! Soon thereafter we noticed that tables were often empty. They started changing the hours, subtracting lunch, subtracting Sunday, adding Sunday, subtracting Monday and Tuesday (I think that is where they stand now... open for dinner Wednesday through Sunday). The next time we went the food was really good again. Thereafter, it appears that the "most experienced chef in town" was possibly let go. The last two times we tried it, the owner was in the kitchen along with his (?) mother. The food was ok, but really not as good as it had been. I certainly wish the owners the best of luck, particularly since I like having some indian food so close to home, but I miss the first chef! Just curious if anyone else has tried it or knows the saga? Additionally, as a comment to indian food getting clumped together as opposed to recognized as separate regional cuisnes (ala Italian and Chinese food), I do miss the indian restaurants of New Jersey which did tend to specialize. There were a lot of south indian places (particularly common seemed to be the dosa hut... anyone seen dosas for sale in PDX?), but some got even more focused (Hyderabadai cuisine, for instance). Made for some fine eating. Scott