lmarshal1

Thank you all so much for so many suggestions for making hummus. I remember when I asked for recipes for guacamole some time ago, I felt like I had received a 101 course in guacamole and the permission to be inventive! Same here. Thanks again. lkm

Thanks for suggestions. I'll try the peanut butter, roasted garlic, chopped onion, and plain yogurt as additions first. Sounds good. lkm

Thanks, snowangel, for all the information. Sounds like I can "play" with hummus the same way I played with guacamole the first time I made it: try a basic recipe and then add "stuff" that we like in order to experiment with what goes over best. A question about sesame paste and sesame oil. What is the shelf life of these things? I bought a little bottle of sesame oil and though it was fine for the first couple uses, it was horrible within a couple months, practically gave off fumes. Will the Tahini keep? I liked the idea on one of the threads you listed of making a sort of Tahini with toasted sesame seeds and oil so that it was fresh. Also, I liked the addition of a bit of plain yogurt. Will experiment with all this. Thanks again. lkm

Thanks, Jason. That was fast! Reminds me a bit of the time I asked here for a recipe for guacamole and found that it can be done a zillion ways. Now what is the tehina? I've never even tasted hummus, but I've always liked garbanzos, even straight out of the can, but especially on salads and in soups. lkm

We are trying to add more beans and grains to our diet. What is a good recipe for hummus? I expect there have been some discussions of this before, but I couldn't find a thread devoted to it. Is it pretty good just made with canned chickpeas/garbanzos? I tried a can from Trader Joe's that was labeled "organic" and did think they were pretty good in my Italian bean soup (recipe in www.beanbible.com) but what about using it in hummus? Thanks. lkm

Sandra: I will definitely try the coconut milk method you suggested...and look up Jean-Georges Vongrichten. Megan: Aaaaargh! I was just at Trader Joe's yesterday and meant to pick up arborio rice and forgot. I did get some brown Jasmine rice for other purposes though. lkm

Would it be possible to use coconut milk as part or all of the liquid for rice pudding? Does anyone have a recipe for such a thing? lkm

andiesenji: Thanks for including the interesting sites. Calrose rice is available locally. I'll try some. Last fall on a trip to Maine I was as sick as a dog with a 24-hour stomach bug. The first thing I ate after that was a lovely bowl of rice pudding with real whipped cream. Heavenly to a tender tummy. lkm

Thanks, all, for the suggestions. MGLloyd: I had shopped in a Trader Joe's in the Washington, DC, area and had heard there was one in the Indianapolis area (45 minutes from where I live), but I just figured out where the store actually is the other night when we happened to pass it on the way to dinner. A "field trip" is in order. emsny: Thanks for the "tender rice" suggestion. I can identify with the notion of eating right out of the fridge! lkm

I saw a couple of cooking shows this past week that made rice pudding. What is the best rice to use? And the best flavorings? lkm

Thanks for the helpful comments. I'm thinking of roasted garlic Alfredo. Yum. lkm

I just did a little search on garlic roasters. Found a fancy one for $50. No way. Little terra cotta ones were in the $10-20 range. Most seem to be unglazed except for the inside of the "saucer." One suggested soaking the top to avoid cracks. The others didn't mention this. Some mentioned using oil on the cloves themselves. I wonder if an overturned 3- or 4-inch clay flower pot on a glazed shirred-egg dish would work. Thanks johhnyH for the comment. I'm with you on not wasting money on seldom-used gadgets, but the terracotta flowerpot idea appealed to me. Thanks for time and temperature. lkm

I love roasted garlic but have never done it myself. I have seen little roasters just for garlic but am too cheap to spend $18 for something I won't use that much. One I saw appeared to be just terra cotta. Does anyone have one of these? How do they hold up in an oven? Would a brand-new terra cotta flower pot (with the drainage hole used as an escape for steam) and saucer (the next size larger in order to fit the overturned pot) work? Would it need to be oiled? Or soaked in water beforehand? Or would it crack or explode? Thanks. lkm

I made a 5-bean soup from www.beanbible.com a couple of weeks ago: 5 different beans, barley, tomatoes...quite tasty. lkm

When I sat down in 1982 on a step near the top of one of the pyramids, knees shaking, terrified of heights, I would probably have lost it completely had I seen a Wal-Mart in the distance! lkm

That's it exactly: A tamale on steroids! Yes, after looking at the recipe, I won't be making nacatamales any time soon! My friend brought over plain tamales yesterday, yummy like the others but much simpler...tender chicken, a little hot, shell hand-made...all wrapped in banana leaves. I made a Mexican-style rice and put out diced tomatoes and sliced green onions and some fresh fruit. A pretty good supper. lkm

Thanks for the site. I don't remember any raisins, but the foil and the banana leaves were part of it, and I'm sure they were steamed. Yes...elaborate is the word. Thanks. lkm

A friend from Nicaragua brought me some chicken (what she called) nacatamales recently. Anyone have a recipe? How are they different from tamales? She wrapped them in foil and boiled them, I think. lkm

Wow! Does Rancho Gordo ever have a wonderful selection of dried beans! And I see your mail order site is up. We have a growing Mexican population in this area, and I'm noticing more and more Mexican cooking products on the shelves. Yum. I've enjoyed this thread. Pozole (the soup) will now be a must. Thanks, all. lkm

I had never heard of selling broken rice. A few months ago, I apparently bought some! I kinda thought the price was awfully low for Jasmine rice! I've used it once...stickier than sticky. Glad to see some discussion of it here. Now I know to avoid it in the future for my usual rice uses and how to use it up (I'm a cheapo at heart!) now that I'm stuck with it. lkm

Thanks for the suggestions. The savory pie sounds especially good and the calzoni and gnocchi too! The ricotta/cocoa dessert is a new one to me and sounds very tasty. Thanks all. lkm

I have a pound container of ricotta cheese that needs to be used. I bought it for lasagna but am not in the mood to make it. How can I use the cheese for supper tonight? Thanks. lkm

Thanks for replies. I made focaccia with plain old all-purpose flour and was amazed at how good it was. Then I made two more small focaccia loaves with an old bread-machine mix (tossed yeast, used new) for country white bread, and it was even better. I bought a sack of whole-wheat flour and intend to use it half and half with regular flour for more focaccia. Will that work OK? I will definitely look for bread flours because if the focaccia are this good with plain old flour, I expect even better with the right stuff. Thanks again. lkm

To the eGullet bread baking experts! Please tell me about bread flours...which brands and types to use for a simple loaf of bread. For focaccia? For pizza crust? For adding some whole grain flours? Thanks. lkm

Zilla369: I'm impressed! Sounds very tasty. lkm