Jaymes

I use the canned ranchero primarily for cooking - don't think it's so good as a dip. Love the salsa verde - it's good with chips and also for cooking. But neither one is really a good harbinger for whether or not you'd like the jarred salsa casera. Besides, didn't you get a good recipe for homemade salsa recently??? Or am I mistaken???

Sourdough Fruitcake 1 1/2 C raisins 1 1/2 C currants 3 C mixed candied fruits, or peels, or dates, figs, etc. 1 C hard cider (or sherry, port, rum, Muscatel or brandy) 1 C sugar 1 C brown sugar 2/3 C shortening (I use buttery-flavor Crisco) 1 1/2 t cinnamon 1 t nutmeg 1/2 t allspice 2 eggs, beaten 1 C sourdough starter 1 C sliced almonds (or chopped pecans) 4 C sifted AP flour 1 t baking soda 2 t salt Rinse, drain, coarsely chop raisins; rinse, drain and pick over currants; chop fruits and peels. Combine all fruits with cider (or wine or brandy or whatever). Cover and let stand overnight. Cream together the shortening and spices until fluffy. Beat in eggs. Stir in starter. Combine with fruit mixture and nuts. Sift flour, soda and salt together into batter and mix well. Turn into two loaf pans that have been greased and lined with heavy brown paper. Bake below oven center in very slow oven (275º) about 2 1/2 hours. Remove from pans. Cool on wire racks before turning out and removing paper. Spoon additional 2 or 3 T wine or cider over each cooled loaf before storing. Wrap in foil and refrigerate. These will mellow day by day. Bonus recipe: Sourdough Biscuits 1 C. AP flour 1 1/2 t baking powder 1/4 t salt 1 T sugar 1/2 t baking soda 1 C starter 1/2 C shortening Combine all ingredients, starting with dry ingredients, and knead on a floured board or pastry cloth 10 times. Pat out to 3/4" thick. Cut out biscuits, either round with top of glass, or (easier) just make square biscuits. Place in greased pie pan and bake 425º for 15-18 minutes. Makes 8 large biscuits.

Hoping you get a sourdough cinnamon roll recipe. I agree with the sourdough pancake people. The best. And, sourdough with whole wheat flour. Or buckwheat. Extra yum. Would you like one for sourdough fruitcake??? If so, I can help there!!

Thou art the very soul.

Carnitas de puerco Charro beans Pico de gallo con aguacate Tortillas

I really like to stay away from threads on subjects about which I ain't no expert. And, of course, that's most threads. Certainly this one. But, my family is of Scots-Irish descent (among other things) and about the only thing my mother fixed that was really good was what she called "Irish Stew." And we'd eat buckets of it. (One night, literally, when she thought she'd at last made enough of it that she could get leftovers. She was wrong.) So I thought I'd add my impressions. I have long known that my mother's Irish Stew probably wasn't "authentic" but through the years, I did talk about it with her and some other people in the know just because I was curious. Much of what I was told has been said by others in this thread. To whit - What we know as "Irish Stew" would more properly be called "American-Irish Stew" and has changed from the authentic dish as served in Ireland for a myriad of factors. One of which is that when the Irish came to this country, beef was more plentiful than lamb, so in the immigrant homes, most began cooking beef in the manner to which they were accustomed. Generally they could only afford tougher cuts of meat which required considerable stewing to render tender. The meat was not browned, nor was additional fat added. It is a thick stew - made thick by the disintegration of the ingredients, primarily the softer baking "Irish potatoes," but also the flaking off of bits of the meat, carrots, celery, onions, etc., which naturally occurs over the long cooking period. The trick is to serve it at just the right time, when things have started falling apart and the broth is of a "thick-soupy" (to coin a phrase) texture, but the vegetables and meat still retain enough "togetherness" to be of good texture and taste. It is a simple flavor. When I first started trying to replicate my mother's, I'd put all kinds of extra stuff in it: bouillon, wine, beer, half the spices from the spice rack -- you name it. But I couldn't get the same simple, delicious, comforting peasant home-kitchen flavor. So, I stopped adding all that extra stuff and just used water. In addition to salt and pepper, my mother only put in a bay leaf. And sometimes a little thyme, but I have often been told that Irish Stew is not a highly-seasoned dish either. The flavor of the meat and vegetables is supposed to be the star, rather than the flavor of assorted added spices or herbs or wine, or other strongly-flavored ingredients. Some things, I was told, are optional - tomatoes for one (but my family really likes them and so a can was always added), and then other vegetables, like turnips, etc. The big three (in addition to the mandatory potatoes, of course) are carrots, onions and celery. Regardless as to what it's called, and how authentic it is, it is really good. And has always been to me a nice reminder that sometimes, in food as in life, simpler is better, and that rather than carrying you to the heights of your imagination, overdoing things can occasionally be just overdoing things.

Well - pancit means a dish containing noodles. Probably adapted from the Chinese. And, like noodle dishes everywhere, you can have countless recipes for them. It doesn't even refer to a particular type of noodle. So, I hate to be discouraging, but asking someone for a recipe to create a particular pancit dish would be like saying, "I had a friend that made a great Italian pasta dish." I make a pretty-good chicken pancit dish - veggies, etc. But you can put in it anything you like. What did the dish you remember have in it?? Edit: Just had a thought. Pancit Luglug is a traditional celebratory dish - for birthdays. So, does that sound familiar? It has a reddish sauce - with seafood and pork and garlic and annato.

How about piloncillo? Anyone use it?

Wow. Very, very interesting. Thank you, "lurker." Well done. Edit: Any chance you know, and could share with us, some of the recipes and methods of preparation. Say, in particular, for that "gift of heaven" sweet?

I'd suggest to you, Awb, and to you, MsRamsey, that you check with stores that cater to an Hispanic market. But frankly, if you're going to that much trouble, it'd probably be easier to just make your own. Except that "stores that cater to an Hispanic market" are also likely to sell other treasures that you might enjoy experimenting with. Like cajeta, and crema, and piloncillo, etc.

Don't know where you are, but recently I visited my son who lives in San Jose. He and the "guys" (all software programmers - are there no women out there?) were getting together one night and one of them had brought a jar of Pace. So I hopped in the car and went to a nearby grocery store and bought three bottles of Herdez - a mild, med & hot. Naturally, these extremely discriminating diners pronounced it superior. And my son tells me it is their new standard. So, where are you?

Such a loss. Such a sad, sweet reminder of the passage of time -- and of one's own mortality, one's own place in the slowly moving parade of life. Please accept my condolences as well.

Chevre Medallions 4 oz goat cheese, in a log 1/4 C toasted pine nuts 1/2 C panko 1 t favorite herbs - thyme, oregano, parsley, rosemary, whatever 1/4 C EVOO Preheat oven to 375º. Finely chop pine nuts; toss with panko and herbs. Slice chevre into four rounds. Dip into evoo being sure to coat well. Then into nuts/herbs/panko mixture. Place on lightly-greased baking sheet. Bake for five minutes until rounds are soft and warm Serve as a garnish with fish, salads, etc., or as appetizer with spreaders & crackers, bread, toast, etc.

My son has never been the head of the concierge desk, but even working there at all was a highly-coveted position in the hotel, and one had to work one's way up in order to "earn" it. My son felt insulted by the stringency and inflexibility of the policy, as did the others who worked the desk with him. On top of that, as he said, "it took a lot of the fun out of it." They were indeed "full-service" concierge desks. My son worked with this particular chain of properties for about eight years. They are one of the best-known and respected luxury hotel companies in the world. And he worked the concierge desk at two of them. Perhaps part of the problem is that both of these particular properties are in the U.S. and, sadly, we've become such a litigious society that the hotels' priorities may have changed from an attempt to offer the best service possible, to one of avoiding potential lawsuits. However, my son has recently earned a degree in Hotel & Rest Mgt and no longer works for that company. He is, in fact, now in a management position with another luxury property. But he plans to remain in the hospitality industry for the foreseeable future so I am pleased to hear your response that you find these policies unfortunate, and not to be the norm. It also makes me more likely to seek out the recommendations of a concierge when I travel. After his experience, I admit I felt less so inclined.

Let me hasten to add here that my son and his colleagues on the concierge desk would never recommend an inferior restaurant to a guest based on invitations for free meals. Even putting aside ethical considerations, to do so and to then have the guest complain that the meal or restaurant was not up to standards, would put their jobs into jeopardy. And obviously, that's not worth it for a free meal. Of course, that may be one more reason why hotel management posts lists and the concierge staff is "strongly encouraged" to only recommend restaurants from that.

Thank you for your time in coming here. My son is in the hotel business, and has worked at the concierge desk in several luxury hotels. I am going to relate here something that he has told me. Not because I believe you to be interested in his personal experience, but because my question is whether or not you find his experience to be typical. At the hotel concierge desks where he has worked there are posted lists of restaurants. They have been told that they are never to recommend restaurants not on those lists, under thread of termination. My son was told that the hotel was not interested in seeing to it that its guests have the best dining experience of their lives, but that they are supremely interested in seeing to it that they don't have the worst. For example, the city where my son currently works is well-known for a particular ethnic cuisine. Many of the hotel guests ask at the concierge desk for the "best" restaurant of that type. Now, the hotel staff does have a particular favorite, but it's in a somewhat dodgy part of town, the ambience is non-existant, and the restaurant occasionally fails health inspections. So, when the people at the concierge desk are asked for recommendations, they always suggest two or three of the large, well-known, santitized, "Americanized" but safe restaurants. Question: Is this typical? In addition, my son says that he rarely pays for a meal out. The staff at the concierge desk is frequently invited via telephone, or by means of offering them some sort of coupon or chit for free meals. And also, he says that when they are dining out, they have discovered that should they mention where they work, the restaurant usually "comps" them. Because hotel work at their level is not particularly lucrative, they accept these free meals. Question: Is this typical? Do you see any ethical problems with it? Thanks again for your time.

So, THAT'S what the "big bang" theory was all about. And here I always thought it had something to do with that really wild and trampy fat girl I knew back in high school.

Yes! I loved the line he used about how the new "bistro" is "quaint." And then compared it to his favorite South Austin dive which, he said, ain't "quaint." And that in fact, "a while back, quaint walked out for a pack of cigarettes and hasn't come back." That is one priceless line

Herdez also packs its salsas into jars. I believe they are better. I most often make my own, but sometimes do buy Herdez in jars: Salsa Casera - mild, medium or hot, depending on what I'm using it for and to whom I'm serving it; and Salsa Verde - a tangy tomatillo sauce. I have seen Herdez products in cans for sale all over the globe, but have also seen the jars in many places. If you don't want to make salsa from scratch, I'd suggest you search out Herdez. In jars. As Ladybug says, however, it is all a matter of opinion. I don't want to lure Plotnicki in here for a long stay by pointing out that in this, as in all food matters, what tastes good to one person is subjective. But that's the truth, of course. However, having been a long-time veteran of the salsa wars (including preparing fresh, preparing partially-fresh, purchasing cans and jars of prepared, etc.) (much of my experience having been forced upon me, I hasten to add, because of the remote locations where I have lived), and having tried countless brands of prepared salsas (including "award-winning" this and "cookoff-winning" that) (and Bayless'), in my opinion, and to my taste, the best of the widely-available, commercially-prepared lot is Herdez. In jars. I've also lived places where Herdez in jars was not available, so I've bought canned. I have often lamented the fact that, to me anyway, their canned product is not so good as the jarred versions.

are you from the midwest by any chance?! Don't know if HB is from the midwest or not, but having lived a great portion of my life at various places throughout the U.S. Southwest, can tell you that everyone's "fall back" quick Chile con Queso recipe is exactly that, Velveeta melted with a can of Ro-Tel. Although I should add that even down here, it's no one's idea of "haute cuisine," not even the people who make it all the time (including college kids in dorm rooms with microwaves). We know what it is. And what it ain't. So, yeah, I've got better recipes for Chile Con Queso - many with fresh peppers, and some that even include chorizo - but in a pinch - you can't beat good old Velveeta & Ro-Tel.

Thanks for all the great recipes! PS - Bella, is this it?

Hey - thanks! Now, be sure to let us know how the Wondra compares to AP. I, for one, am really eager to hear.

Are you sure you won't reconsider organizing tours for egullet? Thanks for the vote of confidence. Actually, I did think about that once. In the travel business, they call it "in-bound." And I considered doing "Texas in-bound" tours. But, thankfully thought better of it. As my friend (and co-owner of my former travel agency) once put it, "You know, I'd just love this business if it weren't for all those pesky customers." I'm sorry, but can't you just imagine trying to please this lot???

poetry So you're in, too, right, Steebles?? (And thanks for the compliment. And are we seeing you at the Thai dinner on Jan 19th?)

Because I "organized tours" for a living for nearly twenty years. And believe me when I say I have absolutely NO desire to ever do that again. For any reason. For any amount of money. So, just you come. That, I can do just fine, believe me!