Jaymes

Regardless as to how many times I try and how many recipes I use, the Spanish tortillas I make here in the US don't taste like the ones in Spain. I've been told that's because we use refrigerated, pasteurized eggs, and they don't.

Yep, stand there at Subway and watch the way the "single use gloves" work in real life. You know... while the regulators are all busy thinking up new regulations and not hovering over to enforce the countless regulations that they've already passed. In real life, the kids/counterworkers/cooks, etc., keep on the same pair of gloves while they make your sandwich. And the next guy's sandwich. And dig around for more ingredients. And wipe down the counter. And handle money. And talk on the phone. And scratch their nose. And cough. And do the myriad thoughtless things that humans do with their hands. I'm sorry but the absolute fact is that if people value cleanliness, they'll be clean. They'll keep their workspace and their hands clean. They won't blow their nose or dig around under the sink or make change or talk on the phone and then get right back to work handling food. If they don't care about cleanliness, forcing them to wear gloves that they won't change and don't keep clean ain't gonna make a bit of difference.

Gloves on their hands? Seems to me that some people have way too much time on their hands. And do nothing but sit around and come up with ways to interfere in everyone's life. Dear Lord, from these arrogant, know-it-all, do-gooder meddlers please deliver me. .

Vlacatko - Just read your post above about the chicken salad of your youth. Can't believe I missed it the first time around. How very interesting! Unfortunately, seems like you didn't get much of an answer to your question, so I'll try. Of course, I'm not Czech, nor am I currently in the Czech Republic, so I can only answer for myself, and for what I perceive the current "culinary climate" to be in the US. And that's that anything goes. In my crowd, anyway, there aren't any "right" or "wrong" combinations. People love to experiment and, if occasionally something doesn't turn out particularly well, everybody just compliments you on your bold adventuresome willingness to experiment. I think your chicken salad sounds very interesting. Wouldn't worry about the peaches. There are many, many delicious and accepted chicken salads that incorporate various fruits - grapes, pineapple, apples, etc. And nothing wrong with sage and rosemary. Speaking just for myself, I certainly would not "cringe." I'd consider myself to be very lucky to meet you in your beautiful country and try your chicken salad!

Rotus - you seriously should work on making your own green chile sauce, rather than just buying it from HEB. Or anyone else, for that matter. Just so happens that I'm now living in Texas, and our local HEB is where we always shop, and they're a really great grocery purveyor. For one thing, since us Texans really love chiles, every year at Hatch chile season, the HEBs here all put those big roasters out front in the parking lots and roast away. So I do love HEB. But I also lived in New Mexico for quite a number of years, and still have relatives all over the state, so I visit often. Just drove through Hatch last week. That recipe I gave for Sonoran/New Mexican-style stacked green chile enchiladas back on the first page came from a very popular restaurant in the Hatch Valley, where we've been going for, literally, decades. I don't know if the HEB enchilada sauce has tomatillos in addition to the Hatch chiles but, if so, it's a simple matter to add them. I'd suggest you get out a couple of your cans of Hatch chiles and make that recipe I gave. It's really simple, especially with canned chiles. That can be your starting point. Then fiddle and tweak it until you get it just like you want it. You're far better off to come up with your own rendition of green chile sauce, in pretty-much every way I can think of, rather than relying on a continuous supply of canned.

I agree that Nick should not have been asked to give up immunity. He didn't make the rules. You can't blame him for playing by them. It's probably not a good idea to have immunity at all this late in the game, and most certainly not with a group challenge when you know there are only going to be three cheftestants on each team. What did they expect? If you don't want people to actually USE the immunity, then why on earth even offer it? Being expected to give it up should you screw up totally defeats the purpose of having it, doesn't it? And, everybody had an equal chance to earn immunity, but Nick was the one that did. I think that the person that should be the most embarrassed watching the playback is Chef Crenn. It just seemed to me that she was on some sort of French ego trip. I loved listening to Chef Serrano talk about how he wanted them to all do something that they knew how to do well.

Saltine cracker crumbs - about 1/2 cup, combined with about 1/4 C grated parmesan. I do pound the breasts until somewhat thin. Then beat 1 egg with about 1 T water and a nice sprinkle of black pepper. Breasts go into egg bath, then into cracker/parmesan mixture to coat. I brown in hot veg (usually canola) oil with a little olive oil added for flavor. Then into baking dish, top with sauce/gravy, and usually some mozzarella along with more parmesan.

Well, the quote feature ain't working either. But, Rotus, you said next time you'll put the queso seco "for a bit on the top." Be sure you that you do that AFTER you've cooked it. Just, as I say, as a final garnish.

Rotus, you said that the Mexican queso seco was "too salty" for you and that you would "leave it out next time." The really salty Mexican cheeses of that type crumble, rather than melt, and are best used as a sort of garnish. Use it like you might use feta. It's definitely a type of cheese we love and always keep on hand. We crumble some over beans, tacos, and soups, etc.

Although not an 'in-depth' treatise on all Mexican chiles, this article gives a pretty good thumbnail sketch regarding Anaheim/California, Hatch, Poblano, etc.: [tried to put a link here] Boy, as Darienne noted above, links (and cut & paste) are not working. Sunspots? However, you can go to Mexicanfood.about.com, and then to Types of Green Chiles.

Poblanos should work perfectly. In fact, Poblanos, Anaheims are what I use.

I like a nutty wheat bread best. My personal favorite is Orowheat Health Nut. http://www.oroweat.com/products/sliced-breads/whole-grains/health-nut%C2%AE I like this toast so much that, while it's really great with butter and honey or jams or marmalade, it's also tasty enough to eat all by itself, with absolutely nothing else added.

Well, my daddy's still alive and still cooking (at 92), so I had to mention him. And then I wanted to 'splain where he got it. My grandmother may be a few years' gone, but her spirit is still sure here. I can't mention the "best cooks in the family" without saying that it all started with her.

It's been my experience that there are (at least) two completely different green sauces commonly used in Mexican cooking. There is the tomatillo-based sauce, and the chile-based sauce. Tomatillos have a distinctive tang that green chiles do not have (think green tomatoes). I love both of these sauces and make them frequently. The tang of the tomatillos produces a more strongly-flavored sauce. The more mildly-flavored green chiles work really well with enchiladas, but are not strong enough, in my view, to work well with chilaquiles, for example. You can make either sauce hotter with the addition of spicier chiles and peppers. I lived for quite a number of years in New Mexico, home of the Hatch chile. Here's my recipe for New Mexico Style Stacked Green enchiladas. There are no tomatillos in this recipe: Sonoran-Style Stacked Green Chile Enchiladas Prepare your green chile sauce first: For sauce: 12 medium green chile peppers (of course, fresh are way best, but if you must....), peeled, seeded, deveined and chopped 2 medium tomatoes (or 1 cup canned tomatoes), chopped 1 medium onion, chopped 2 small garlic cloves, smashed and chopped 1 tsp salt Roast chiles over gas burners, or on outdoor grill, or under broiler until blistered. Put into plastic baggies and allow steam to permeate. If you don't like using plastic, use a paper bag, or even wrap them up in a dishtowel. This makes the chiles easy to peel. Remove peel, core, seeds, and visible veins. (Edit: Should have added that if you are using canned green chiles, you don't have to take this step of roasting, peeling, etc.) Chop into half-inch pieces. Place into saucepan and add tomatoes, onion, salt and garlic. Pour in enough water just to cover and simmer ten minutes. (If you wish, in addition to roasting the chiles, you can roast or grill the tomatoes, onion and garlic to give the whole thing a more smoky flavor.) For enchiladas: 1 doz corn tortillas 2 C grated cheese (again, if you have a fave Mex cheese, use it; if not, half good quality mild cheddar and half jack) 3 C green chile sauce Allow two or three tortillas per person. Fry tortillas quickly in hot fat just to soften, then dip into hot green chile sauce. You are going to assemble these on the individual serving plates. I usually have my plates stacked in a warm oven. One at a time, place a prepared tortilla on warm plate, sprinkle with cheeses, another hot tortilla, more cheese, top with hot tortilla. Pour over as much green chile sauce as you like for desired wetness. Serve immediately. You can top it with a dollop of sour cream if youd like. That turns it into Enchilada Suiza, a reference to the Swiss immigrants to Mexico, who incorporated dairy into many traditional Mexican recipes.

No mystery here. I'm a Southern gal so you know there's gonna be hamhocks and blackeyed peas eaten at some point on New Year's Day. I sure don't want to deal with bad luck all year. And cornbread, too, of course. The blackeyed peas represent coin money, so you have to have that. And greens of some sort (usually collard greens but any greens will do) represent folding money, so you've got to have some of that on New Year's Day as well.

My grandmother Sugar, on my father's side, was a legendary southern cook. She was a Harvey Girl back in the old days, and she married a conductor on the K&T railroad. When he died, she was left a young widow with three little kids to support, and she opened a "home cooking" style restaurant. She met her second husband when he was out with his hunting buddies and bagged a raccoon that he brought into her restaurant. He asked her, "Can you cook this?" and she said, "I can cook any damn thing you can drag in here." That comprised their brief courtship. And they were married for thirty years. My father is the second-best cook in our family. He learnt to cook in Sugar's restaurant and later in her home kitchen. My mother couldn't cook at all. And didn't really need to. Not only was my dad a superb cook, his job took him throughout the world. So he was always whipping up some new tasty something, often with ingredients that he had brought back from foreign lands. As for this current generation, I am the best cook. Hands down. Nobody else is even in the running. At least that's what I'm often told. And I've been given no reason whatsoever to doubt it.

If you eat something really spicy and your mouth is on fire, the very best way to cool it off is with sugar. So, for decades, the traditional end to a spicy meal at a TexMex restaurant was a sweet bite of the creamy, non-chewy praline-type candy. The Mexicans call it 'Leche Quemada.' It can be made with or without pecans. Sometimes it even has coconut. But it's basically the same thing as a creamy pecan praline.

Regarding the BB&B "on line" 20% off, I get them in my email inbox all the time. Don't know why I would and someone else wouldn't. I'd suggest to anyone that wants them and isn't getting them that, assuming you're signed up for their newsletter, you should go to the "preferences" page and be sure you're signed up to receive promotional emails. And, how about messaging? I just now got a text from BB&B offering 20% off one item, either in-store or online.

Bought a big ol' bottle of Tuaca. It's actually been cold down here in Houston, and for me, that means Hot Apple Pie: http://cocktails.about.com/od/cocktailrecipes/r/hot_apple_pie.htm Nothing better!

No need to "long for the Amish butter [you] used to buy in Dutch Country." Your profile says you're at Grand Lake o' the Cherokees, OK. So, you ARE in "Dutch Country." Eastern Oklahoma, Southwestern Missouri are full of Dutch Amish. A mere 30-40 miles down the highway from you, just a little south of Pryor, and you're in Chouteau. And this absolutely wonderful store: http://amishcheesehouse.com/ Look under the "products" list and you'll find "country butter." It comes in a big roll. Just the sort of roll that works so well in your old-fashioned butter bell. And, of course, you can buy several rolls and take them home and wrap them in foil and put them in the freezer and keep them to have on hand for a very long time!

Another vote for wrapping the butter tightly in foil (I use several layers) and then into the freezer. I live by myself and don't use much butter, but I certainly like having it on hand. I regularly treat myself to premium butters, including Amish butters that I bring home from road trips through Amish country. No detectable loss of quality even after many months in the freezer.

I'm kinda glad that the alarmist crowd is vigilant, because otherwise we might still be sealing tin cans with lead. So I want to know. But then, I want to decide for myself how much of a threat any of this stuff poses. In general, our family doesn't eat "a lot" of much of anything, so rarely do we decide that we consume enough of any one product for it to be of any real danger to us. In this case, sign me up with the "not at all" crowd.

Honestly, it might not have gone so off for me had I not been anticipating meat. That was where I went so horribly wrong. And there was no recovering after that.

So I had my first McRib Sandwich. It was a surreal experience for me. I wasn't expecting a brisket lovingly slow-smoked over oak and then hand-sliced. I wasn't expecting a hunk of pork lovingly slow-smoked over hickory and then hand-pulled. I wasn't expecting ribs or sausage, or even chicken. But, as I've been eating "barbecue" of all sorts for some six decades, I guess I was expecting some sort of meat texture. The sauce was fine - if you like the typical tomato-based sweet and tangy type sauce and, although that's sure not my favorite type of BBQ sauce, I do like it okay. But, try as I might, I gleaned no "meat" texture whatsoever. It was just this odd, rather glutinous, flavorless mass of something; exactly what, I could not discern. Luckily, there were onions and pickles, so there was some texture. But the onions and pickles were the only real texture I encountered. Chewing that thing, searching for some sort of meat texture, and finding none, was truly one of the weirdest and most surreal food experiences I think I've ever had. And one I don't think I'll be repeating. I'd rather put a pork butt into a crockpot and dump in a bottle of barbecue sauce and stew it until it falls apart. At least my tongue could find, hiding under that strong sweet & tangy sauce, something that resembles actual meat.

Which restaurant is it? I'm planning a road trip out that way pretty soon, and would love to know. Also, you're past Las Cruces and Old Mesilla, but I'm wondering if you've ever stopped in there. They have two of my favorite restaurants in the state, La Posta and Double Eagle Steak House. http://www.oldmesilla.org/ And, what's your route from there? Perhaps through Douglas? If so, you must see the remarkable lobby of the famous Gasden Hotel, and hear its stories: http://www.thegadsdenhotel.com/ Or maybe charming Bisbee, with its old world funky charm, and the Copper Queen Mine: http://www.cityofbisbee.com/queenminetours.htm Or Nogales, and a quick dash across the border for a sublime Chicken Mole at La Roca? In my personal view, you're traveling through some of the most interesting regions in the entire country. I'm a little jealous. Although, I once again should be on my way through there pretty soon. And I can hardly wait to hop into mi coche, slap on my sunglasses, and head west.