Jaymes

Rich - any chance of getting the recipe for the Shrimp & Pasta Salad?

I hope this board reappears sometime around the first of next November... too many good ideas and I'll never remember them all!

Yeah, I know what you mean about the Fritos... There was just something about it that made it hard for me to break down and go with, too..... The salt, the fact that they're so non-Mex, everything. I had decided not to use them, but as things sometime go, it was late, I was tired, so thought what the heck. But they turn out really good. Of course, I have to hide the Fritos bag when I'm making them for company. It's just kind of *embarassing* Can hardly wait to hear how yours are. And, the play by play account. I sure hope they're what you're looking for. They fit the bill for me and I'd been looking for a good, simple recipe for a long time. Buena suerte, Amiga!

Dos Equis, the dark one, the wonderful one.

Entered this post eagerly because I love "simple food," but was somewhat disappointed to find the notion that "simple food" equals "junk food." I love the former and hate the latter. Probably because, like other posters, wasn't reared on Twinkies, Cokes and Chips... To me, "simple food" is what I had last night... fillet of fish, lightly seasoned and poached in wine, peppers and onions brushed with EVOO and grilled, baked potato, sliced homegrown tomatoes. In the matter of raising kids...had three, all now successful adults. They ate what Mom & Dad ate. The only thing I made them do was to take at least one bite of everything and if they didn't like it, didn't have to eat the rest. But that was one bite per time I served it so, in the case of brussel sprouts for example, I probably served it once a month, which means they ate at least twelve of the little green morsels per year. After a while, you get used to it despite yourself. If they didn't want to finish their plate, they didn't have to. After the requisite "one bite" of everything, they could leave the rest, and I didn't make them sit there for hours until they finished it, or have it reappear days afterward. BUT they didn't get anything else that particular mealtime. I told them that I was not a short-order cook and that if what I was willing to stand out there and fix for them wasn't good enough, fine, but you don't get anything else tonight. It worked pretty well... my kids are all adventuresome eaters and good cooks. One son has a degree in Hotel & Rest Mgt, and talks of opening a restaurant someday. So, I agree with the posters who don't understand "Prawns au Sherry" for the grownups and hot dogs for the kids. Prawns for everyone, I say.

NYTexan, that's a really interesting idea. What is the oven temp you use? How long do you leave it there? Don't know if it's a Texan thing, but I have always finished mine off in the oven. Not only does it help the center to puff and custardize, it also helps the outside to crisp up beautifully. And, another big benefit is it ensures that all of the hungry folks around the breakfast table get hot French Toast at the same time. Also, I use stale bread. I leave it out a day or two, or at least the night before. Stale bread gives it more body while it's soaking up the good stuff. As for the powdered sugar vs syrup thing, I always put both of them on the table for people to help themselves. I also put out fresh strawberries. I was raised a syrup girl, but you just can't beat powdered sugar and fresh, cold strawberries on top of good custardy on the inside, crisp on the outside French Toast. Ingredients - eggs, vanilla, pinch of salt, pinch of sugar (or melted ice cream or egg nog, or something else sweet, but the sugar helps it crisp) heavy cream or half 'n half, or evap milk, dash cinnamon, some kind of orange liqueur, or spiced rum, little bourbon, etc. French Toast is so darned good, pretty-much anything you're in the mood for works. never thought of that...I guess thats why I always used two eggs....but now its a moot point....its soy milk now....but its still good :) I usually use at least one egg per each one or two slices of toast. Of course, I let the slices set there until they are completely saturated, so they soak up a lot. When I was trying to get more nutrition into my kids, I'd use one egg per slice.. If I didn't seems like I was always having to mix up more batter...

Boy, me too about struggling with the silk before you cook it. After you cook it, no matter how you do it, it just comes right off with one swipe of a paper towel. Amazing.

NYTexan, that's a really interesting idea. What is the oven temp you use? How long do you leave it there? Don't know if it's a Texan thing, but I have always finished mine off in the oven. Not only does it help the center to puff and custardize, it also helps the outside to crisp up beautifully. And, another big benefit is it ensures that all of the hungry folks around the breakfast table get hot French Toast at the same time. Also, I use stale bread. I leave it out a day or two, or at least the night before. Stale bread gives it more body while it's soaking up the good stuff. As for the powdered sugar vs syrup thing, I always put both of them on the table for people to help themselves. I also put out fresh strawberries. I was raised a syrup girl, but you just can't beat powdered sugar and fresh, cold strawberries on top of hot, custardy-on-the-inside, crisp-on-the-outside French Toast. Ingredients - eggs, vanilla, pinch of salt, pinch of flour, pinch of sugar (or melted ice cream or egg nog, or something else sweet, but the sugar helps it crisp) heavy cream or half 'n half, or evap milk, dash cinnamon, some kind of orange liqueur, or spiced rum, little bourbon, etc. French Toast is so darned good, pretty-much anything you're in the mood for works.

Yawanna try something wonderful? Put a few splashes of Amaretto in that glass of lemonade. If you're close to Mexico, you can get Mexican Amaretto for five bucks or so a jug... Makes this marvelous drink soooooo much more affordable. And that's a good thing, because you and your guests will drink sooooo much of it.

Of course, what was I thinking to have left out a condo along the French Riviera among my dream locations? Ah, to go again to Le Skipper, to start with Marinated Anchovies, to finish with the Bouillabaisse..... Maybe I could just visit Robert Brown... Maybe we should start one of those "house swap clubs" "eGullet Houseswaps" complete with lists of restaurants, and recipes, and grocery lists and markets, and instantly-available cool, chic, chef friends to populate one's dinner parties........ The gullet boggles.

I know you're a purist, and undoubtedly won't want to try to use Fritos, or tostada chips from the store, but you might consider giving it a go anyway. After all, if my Mexican friend, Lita, uses Fritos in her kitchen in Querétaro, that's pretty Mexican... If I might suggest....do two runs.... one with fresh corn tortillas that you've fried, and one with Fritos... then, please let me know if the extra step is worth the trouble. Cannot thank you enough for your tomatilla sauce recipe... it sounds devine...actually, beyond devine....fabulous. I love the flavor that smoking or grilling imparts. But I work pretty hard and have little time for extra fancy cooking steps, so am always looking for shortcuts. I often just drop a dash or two of liquid smoke in my salsa if I don't have time to grill the peppers. My plebian crowd can't tell the difference. Also, and this is extremely important... I bought a molcajete years ago, and tried to get it smooth. I was told by several Mexican friends to grind rice in it until it was smooth, and I did grind and grind. It firmed up my right upper arm quite nicely, but the molcajete is still rough and grainy and bits of sand wind up in my guacamole. When I went back to those same Mexican girlfriends to ask them to explain more about it, like if I was doing it correctly, and how long should it take, they all said, "Well I don't really know because I got mine from my grandmother and my mother will leave hers to my daughter. That's how we do it...it skips a generation." So, none of them really have a clue. They've just all *heard* about the rice thing, but none of them have actually done it. Please, Miss Stellabella, tell me that a white girl from Georgia is now going to give me the majic hint as to what I can do to get my molcajete all sanded off and smooth.

But NOT tender, succulent, red-rimmed, barbeque brisket just out of the cooker... Nope, you can't, and that's why I must always keep one big fat toe in central Texas, at least part of the time.

Thanks, Seashells... Now, hustle yourself on over to the Austin Food Trail thread and let us know some more favorites!

Ah - Campari...the gods must be Italian. Here's another Italian aperitif. It doesn't contain Campari, but it's so good...in the same mood, a sweet/bitter thing. My Italian friends served it to me last night before an absolutely delicious meal. They said it is extremely popular in their home country. Rosso e Bianco (Red & White) 1 part sweet vermouth (red) 1 part dry vermouth (white) wedge of lemon thin slice of lemon Rub wedge of lemon on rim of chilled martini glass. Shake vermouths with ice cubes and strain into glass. Float thin slice of lemon in drink and serve.

Well, the friend who told me is a Master Gardener who wins all kinds of prizes, so I am just assuming that he knows of what he speaks. He had brought me some tomatoes several summers back, and I said that mine had stopped setting. He told me the thing about the roots, and said that one easy solution was to mulch heavily and water very deeply, so that the roots sink down low where they are less likely to absorb the heat of the day. And that's what I'd do if I had a regular garden where I could plant the tomatoes in the ground. Of course, on my hot little sunny deck, in my containers, that was not possible. That's when I came up with the "cooler" idea. I've done it for several years now, and it works great!

Growing things in pots IS difficult, especially tomatoes. But all I have access to is a very small, west-facing deck, so pots are my only option. And, frankly, putzing around on my lush little overgrown deck is one of my greatest pleasures, so setting up an irrigation system, which is probably beyond my ability to do easily, would also make me obsolete!

Where are you located? That makes a big difference. I think one of the main keys to success (especially when you're just starting) is to be sure to get tomatoes that are recommended for your area. Gardening in containers on a deck is hard enough...I'd suggest you don't make it any harder by trying some variety that has a history of not performing well in your climate, except maybe when grown by master gardeners. I'm in Austin and have just a small deck off of my condo. It faces west, so the infamous Texas sun really beats down. I do all of my gardening in containers, and have been growing tomatoes for years. At first I just grew patio varieties, and cherry tomatoes, but had such good luck, I tried larger varieties. I now grow Early Girl, Celebrity and Merced. I know there may be more exotic, or better, varieties but have had great luck with these three and, like you, have very little space and have to make every square inch count! The first time I tried the larger varieties, I put them, one plant each, in the large black pastic pots that come from the nurseries. But the first week of June, they stopped setting, and eventually just burned up despite all of the watering I was doing. A friend told me that tomatoes stop setting when their ROOTS get to 95 degrees (not the ambient temperature), and my roots were absolutely cooking up there in the sun in those black pots. So, I went out and got five cheap big (the largest size available) white styrofoam coolers, jabbed holes in the bottoms, turned the tops upside down to make drain saucers, and planted my tomatoes, one per cooler, with lots of mulch on top to help keep them cool. I fertilize with Miracle Grow for Tomatoes. This all works for me pretty well. I get at least 70-100 tomatoes per year. Good luck to you. There's sure nothing like homegrown tomatoes.

I did live in Hong Kong. It was absolutely fabulous and I had a great time. Agree with you totally about the food, but after a while, you get "island fever." There's just nowhere else to go easily. Yeah...the boat to Macao and the train into China, but it's really pretty restricted. There's no "just gettin' in my car and drivin' down the highway," I'll tell you that.

I HAVE lived lots of places, and I mean lots and lots and lots of places, and have to fess up that it would be difficult for me to permanently leave Texas, just because of the barbecue and Mexican food. Of course, lots of places have good Mexican food, including Mexico, but got to have that barbecue, too. I really do hate to admit that food is that important to me (and wouldn't, face to face), but when I'm not here for long periods of time, can never get quite "settled" without my occasional "fix" of 'cue & Mex. But if I were a rich girl, would have a condo in downtown Seattle, one here in Austin, and another somewhere in Mexico, maybe PV or Cozumel. Or, maybe in Homer, Alaska...or Sitka. Or Juneau, where I could work at the saloon in the Alaska Hotel. Golly, good thing I don't HAVE to decide! Obviously, I couldn't.

Haven't, but absolutely will. Thanks for the great tip! How about Thai Spice on Cap of Texas highway. They have another location which is not as good, I've been told. I really like Reale's, too, included in someone's posting. It's the "good little Italian place" lots of people are searching for.

Well, WHOOPS again! (In addition to "Spellcheck," I need "Idiotcheck.") I just looked at that recipe for Tomatillo Sauce, and saw that I had typed in the amount of onion incorrectly. It's not 1/C, but rather, 1/4 cup onion. Considerably less, obviously! I did go back and edit it to reflect the correct amount. Stellabella - if you tried it, for goodness sake, try it again. Obviously an entire cup of onion would overpower the tomatillos. As for the cilantro - a "handful" which is what my friend Lita says she uses, is pretty darn subjective! So, I imagine that's really "to taste." Love this thread...it's actually about food. Thanks, Priscilla...

Thanks for the website info. I checked it out and it's really great!

Okay, Stellabella, Priscilla and I need your green sauce recipe post haste (or should I say, muy pronto). StellaB - I tried your husband's potatoes... They were really good! Have you had a chance to whip up some chilaquiles? My daughter was not studying, just visiting friends whom I had met through Rotary Club.... the Rotary Club of Querétaro was our Sister Club. She will be studying soon, though... Spanish, at the University of Salamanca, Spain, this summer. She was born when we were living in Panamá and Spanish was the first language she heard, so she has very little accent. She is a teacher at a small private school here in Austin, and has received a stipend from the school to begin work on her master's degree with this program in Salamanca. She will start teaching Spanish at her school this fall.

Well, it wasn't my suggestion, but for decades it was pretty-much accepted that it was. As I said, that was before Rolf retired. Possibly it has either gone downhill, or the competition has improved; most likely, a bit of both.

Speaking of venerable old Hong Kong institutions, for years Gaddi's, in the Pennisula Hotel, was considered one of the finest (if not THE finest) restaurants in the Far East. I know the maitre d' (Rolf Heninger) retired a while back, and haven't heard much about Gaddi's since he left. Anyone know if Gaddi's is still as good as ever?