Jaymes

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?

But they don't serve Mojitos. Anyone know where in Austin a girl can get a decent Mojito? Also, Gastrotex (sounds like an intestinal problem you picked up in Galveston) , the Four Seasons Cafe dishes up some pretty good grub. I had the Lobster Bisque there a while back and the taste of it still haunts my culinary dreams. I managed to pry loose the recipe... It started with (no kidding) "take 25 lobster carcasses." Needless to say, I haven't gotten around to preparing it. One stumbles across 25 lobster carcasses in one's kitchen just so rarely.

Jalepeños are exceedingly easy to grow. All I've got to garden with is a small deck off of my condo, and I grow pots of them. Another nice thing about jalepeños is that a girl can use just so many (even a "chilehead" like you), so one pot in your small garden should provide ample peppers. Miss J - if you cannot find a source in UK for chile pepper seeds, I am sure many fellow eGulleteers would be happy to send you a packet, including me. I have a Texan friend who lives in Germany. She was so lonesome for good salsa... I sent her my recipe and some seeds for jalepeños and cilantro... Now she's the salsa queen of her neighborhood. Another plant I adore is my bay leaf. A friend gave me a small one several years back. It just grows and grows and fresh bay leaves are so much better than the ubiquitous dried ones. Also, when I'm invited over for dinner, I often cut a large sprig and tie it into a ribbon around a couple of packages of particularly jovial paper cocktail napkins. Makes a great and unusual hostesss gift. Sometimes do the same thing with rosemary or thyme or other herbs from my garden, but the bay leaves seem to be more unusual and therefore make a better gift.

Whoops - should have made it clearer that you want water JUST BARELY to cover. You're going to use it later, so you don't want too much.

Yes, I too love Mexico and the Mexican people. And I love it all: the energy of the border towns, the international flavor and "fiesta atmosphere" of the beach resorts, the history of the colonial cities, the majesty of DF, the pride of the Yucatecans... All of it.. bright colors, garish designs, haggling in the marketplace, the music, the language, the paper flowers. Todos. ¿Maybe there's something to this "reincarnation" stuff, verdad, Beautiful Star? I got my recipe for chilaquiles from a Mexican friend, a housewife, in Querétaro. My daughter went for a visit a while back and, although I had asked for the recipe many times, got the typical "home cooking recipe" answer: "Oh, just a little of this and a little of that. I can no say exactamente, it is the recipe de mi mamá y mi abuelita (little grandmother)." I told my daughter she was to go into Lita's kitchen and not come back out until she knew how to make them. StellaB, I am including here an excerpt from an email my daughter sent to me during her stay in Querétaro. I am including it because of your fondness for Mexico...I think you will enjoy my daughter's impression of Mexican grandmothers: "Mom, I am staying at Jaime's mother's house that is close to downtown Querétaro. She is wonderful....and calls me 'mija.' I love that. I want to be a Mexican grandmother. They hug on you and kiss your cheeks, and make such good food and call everyone Mi Amor, or Mi Vida or Mija. It is so cute!" So, anyway, mi amiga Lita, has four children. The family eats chilaquiles for breakfast at least three or four mornings a week, so Lita has to be able to make it fast. And she does. This is how she does it: CHILAQUILES: Salsa verde (tomatilla sauce); torn tortilla chips (Lita uses Fritos and told me not to laugh before I tried it and I didn't and I did and she's right, they work just fine); queso manchego (or asadero, or ranchero, or fresco, or any other Mexican white cheese that you like); and sour cream. In bottom of microwaveable dish, spread a little tomatilla sauce, then layer of Fritos, then more sauce, then sour cream, then "bastante queso." Repeat, until dish is full or ingredients are all used up, finishing with cheese. Microwave one minute, or till chilaquiles are heated through and cheese is melted. You'll probably have to experiment a time or two in order to get all of the proportions just right. TOMATILLO SAUCE: (Stellabella, you said you make your own, so you proably don't need this recipe but here it is just in case. I should also add that Lita often just buys Herdéz brand Salsa Verde in the small cans if she is pressed for time.) 1 tsp or so cooking oil (just enough to cover botton of saucepan) 6 or so whole tomatillos, paper skins removed jalepeños, or other chile peppers, to desired "pica" water to cover Put tomatillos and chiles in saucepan and water, just to barely cover. Bring to boil and cook just till tomatillos are soft (not too long, don't want them "mushy"). Put tomatillos and peppers (do not discard cooking water) into blender or food processor along with: 2 small cloves garlic 1 tsp salt 1/4 cup chopped onion "handful" cilantro 2 tsp "caldo de pollo" (which I interpret to mean powdered chicken boullion, but I don't know for sure...should have asked, but never did...that's what I add and it comes out fine) Blend in food processor very well. Add cooking water to reach desired "sauce" consistancy...you want it fairly liquid, but flavorful and not "watered-down" tasting, so use your own judgment. Buena suerte, Stellabella and let me know how it turns out. PS-if you try this tomatilla sauce and you like yours better, I'd like that recipe.

Thanks for the compliment, but you'd better not encourage me, or I might never shut up! You have traveled to parts of Mexico that few tourists get to...and I'm curious how it happened that you have visited there, rather than the more common destinations...beaches, etc. Did you just select those areas, or were you there for business reasons? As for the chilaquiles...do you have recipes or would you like one? I have two "housewife" recipes. The ones in the cookbooks are very complicated, with chicken and a bunch of other stuff that doesn't show up in the breakfast chilaquiles that you get all over Mexico. Ceviche in Panama... I was lucky enough to live in Panama for four years. Our favorite restaurant at the time was Restarante de las Americas... They sold ceviche to go. We would get a big glass gallon jug of it at least once a week so we always had it in the fridge. I have a recipe that I got from a Panamian cook and I've made it several times here, but it's not as good. For one thing, I believe in Panama they usually used Bonita fish (although it's been a long time ago and I am no longer certain that's what it was) and here, I wasn't able to get the same kind. Sanitation in underdeveloped countries... I don't tell many folks this because they are often derisive, but this is what works for me. When I first arrive into the country, I go immediately to one of the big, fancy, tourist hotels to eat. I know that their income is dependent upon not getting foreigners sick. I eat there at least two or three times the first day or two, chatting up the staff, especially the portly ones. THEN, I begin to pick their brains about other good places to visit, eat, sightsee, etc. This technique has never failed me, and I've been invited into homes, gone to family parties and celebrations, and even one wedding, with my new friends from the hotel. If I'm in a big city, I do much the same thing by immediately taking the "City Tour." I see a lot of things really fast, in an hour or two, and have a guide to chat up. Other than these two tips for making new friends of the locals, I follow the usual advice... Try to eat in places that are obviously clean, reputable. Avoid food stalls. Unless I am in well-known restaurant, I don't eat anything uncooked that has a large surface area to wash...like lettuce. I don't drink anything that has irregularly-shaped ice cubes that look as though they've been chipped off of a large block sitting out back in the alleyway. Even in the largest and fanciest of restaurants, I never eat any kind of ground meat.... absolutely no hamburgers by the pool no matter how luxurious the hotel nor how good the hamburgers look or smell. You had mentioned that you avoid fish in Mexico... I confess I do just the opposite, at least when I am in coastal areas. It seems to me that the fish is invariably fresh, just off the boats. This has worked for me and I have visited and lived in lots of underdeveloped countries, both in America and the Far East. I just try to use common sense...but I sure will not give up the experience of trying new things. Even though I have munched on extremely exotic items (Creamed Chicken Testicles comes to mind), I have never gotten sick. Giardia... By contrast, my youngest boy contracted Giardia while we were living in Panama City, Florida....so there you go. You never know. Love your posts, StellaB. I look for your name all over eGullet. Keep them coming.

You are totally right.... I hope bro & sis can eventually see the bright side. Lockhart is now an even greater 'Q destination than before.

Well, Netrover, if there are BILLBOARDS advertising food at Acapulco Video, I guess that blows my theory! I'm looking forward to your report as to whether or not you manage to score some ceviche. I used to live in Panama, and we bought it from our favorite restaurant (Restarante de las Americas) in gallon jugs. I make it at home, but it sure ain't as good. Can hardly wait to hear how it goes with you.

After I fry the chorizo (just like you would brown hamburger meat) and drain it, I press it hard between paper towels... That removes most of the grease.

I suspect (but do not know) that the problema is most likely that Acapulco Video is not SUPPOSED to be in the food business. That means all sorts of inconvenient requirements, such as food handlers' licenses, health inspections, hefty fees to the state, and many other difficulties, including the risk of seeing oneself humiliated on television's "Food for Thought." If I am correct in this speculation, I doubt Fat Guy's New York accent was the culprit. They would likely only sell food to amigos whom they know will not rat them out. After all this publicity, however, the Texas Food Policia will probably be on their case. I think anyone who wants to try anything other than videos from Acapulco Video had better get their nalgas over there muy pronto.

That post "the father left the building to the daughter and the business to the son and the daughter doubled the rent" made her sound like a greedy shrew. The father should never have done that... a landlord and a business owner are, by definition, in an adversarial relationship. The father had hoped to tie brother and sister together, and leave the income for both. Instead, he saw to it that the siblings would inevitability be ripped apart. How would YOU like it if you were involved in a very famous business that had been in your family for decades... You own the building and brother owns the business. The rent (in a very small town where rents are cheap), i.e. your income, stays at relative pennies for years and years, while brother gets rich. I think the greedy one is the brother...he absolutely refused to share the wealth... and the stupid one was the father who put brother and sister in that position.