Jaymes

I've posted my recipe for a very basic salsa on eG before. You can use any kind of chile pepper you like, or a mixture, and as many as you like...whatever. The OP, way back in '04, didn't have a blender. One thinks it likely that perhaps he has purchased one in the ensuing years. Although you can make the salsa with a food processor, or a molcajete. Here's a link to the recipe: Cooked tomato salsa

To answer that only for myself, those mall cookies are so sweet that, to me anyway, they're unpleasant. The smell of those cookies baking just makes my teeth hurt. The aroma of my own homemade cookies baking, on the other hand... But the question was "favorite." Although there are so many cooking aromas that are enticing, as I said above, chiles roasting remains my favorite.

I absolutely love the aroma of chiles roasting. It fills the house with the most delightfully pungent smell. It reminds me of late summer and early autumn in New Mexico when sometimes it seems that the entire state is redolent with the aroma of chiles roasting, and the promise of an unending array of the most marvelous dishes to come.

I'm as surprised as you. Maybe it's a southern thang, but we almost never have an evening meal that doesn't include at least one side veggie, often two or more if something looked really good in the store, and a salad.

When I was bringing up three picky eaters, I always tossed some broccoli flowerettes in with our Mac & Cheese as a blatant bribe to get them to eat more veggies. And back in the day, one could not go more than a month without being served the then ubiquitous Chicken Divan at this dinner party or that. You can google for hundreds of recipes for this beloved chicken & broccoli classic. ____________________________________

In much of the southwest, bacon-wrapped hot dogs are known as "Mexican hot dogs" or "Sonoran hot dogs," and are served with what one usually thinks of as Mexican condiments. They're wildly popular.

Malarkey and I went to a book-launch reception and dinner at Hugo's here in Houston on Monday night. A sold-out house of 150 dined on recipes from several of DK's books. Speaking of cuitlacoche, one of the biggest hits was the Empanada de Cuitlacoche, on page 57 of the Oaxaca book. Terrific. Also well received were the Duck with Oaxacan Black Mole (page 89, Oaxaca) and Coffee Caramel Custard (page 394, Art of Mexican Cooking). A lovely and gracious evening for a lovely and gracious woman.

You should be able to find cuitlacoche in cans at a local Mex market.

I wonder if they made up that last "Truck Stop" on the spot to give the Nom Noms, who up until now dominated but had a rather bad break on the final lap, at least a fighting chance, in order to generate some suspense. _________________

Well, I just make a selection of Mexican meats/mains that I put out, and then folks build their own tacos. It's a lot like going to a Mexican restaurant. You order your main, and tortillas come alongside. It's more like that than any specific kind of "taco filling." I make whatever protein I'm in the mood for - Cochinita Pibil, some sort of chicken - maybe mole, lengua (and since I usually try to mix up dishes that are more work with some easy stuff, I do the lengua in a crockpot), fajitas, either green or red chile stew, carnitas, etc. Anything, really. I don't make the typical hamburger stuff, but I do make picadillo quite often. Sometimes I do shrimp, or fried fish. And then the sides and condiments: frijoles charros, guacamole, salsas, etc. ______________________

I made this for dinner last night. Served with fresh corn tortillas: "Tuna Tacos." Sides were a big pan of fried corn made with what might likely be the last ears of the season, and a plate of sliced avocados and homegrown tomatoes. It was really very good. Not fabulous, but especially when you factor in the ease of preparation, and the low cost of tuna, we all decided it's a winner, and we'll make it again. Probably won't serve it to dinner guests as a main, but it might be a good side. And sometimes I have taco parties where I make several different taco fillings. Think it'd be terrific for that party, along with other choices. One thing I'll do differently in the future is to buy a different brand of escabeche. The one I bought didn't have nearly enough carrots, etc., in it. A local mercado has escabeche in big glass jars so that you can select whichever veggies you want. Next time, I'll go that route.

I've got the Spanish version, and my English version is supposedly on the way. There's a reception and booksigning here in Houston next Monday, and I'm going. Hopeful that the book will be here by then but, if not, I'll just get some at the booksigning. The Spanish version is wonderful, but the binding, etc., are not so wonderful. I'm actually afraid to open it and use it much. I suspect the English version will hold up much better.

Maybe not quite as clumpy as some chutneys, but the apricot or pineapple preserves do keep it from being as smooth as jelly. And after tasting the batch I just made, I do think that the flavor profile is similar to a hot Major Grey chutney.

Right... just pure horseradish jarred in a vinegar base. Not a creamy sauce. A note - this keeps in your fridge about as long as the horseradish keeps in your fridge - a good long while. Many cooks think it improves with age. And don't be stingy with the horseradish or dry mustard. This is a condiment, so it's supposed to be quite bold-flavored. __________________________

Made up some Jezebel Sauce today to go with a baked ham I'm having for dinner, and got to wondering about the name and the origins. A quick google brought me back to eG. I read the post above that said, "So it's like a chutney?" And as I tasted my finished product, thought that indeed it does have a taste profile similar to some chutneys. Whatever it is, it's a part of my southern childhood and it's delicious. Just a quick note - you can make it with either pineapple preserves, or apricot preserves The other ingredients stay pretty much the same, although in varying proportions, according to preference. Although the black pepper is optional. Some recipes call for it and some do not.

I live in Texas. Crepes and other "French food" seem to be, to me anyway, although not so popular as Mexican, perfectly fine. Have you spent any time in Texas? ___________________________ LOL. Despite your protests, the Crepes truck got screwed over when they got sent over to Texas and finished last. This was a team that had consistently finished near the top, where they had been in second place to Nom Nom in all the previous stops. Perhaps we saw different episodes. In the one I saw, the problems with the crepe truck were not due to Texans being a bunch of ignorant, redneck, provincial, bigoted Francophobes, the implication of the initial post that began this discussion. In fact, as I recall, the actual Frenchman and his food were very well received. And if Texans did follow true to form to this stereotype, I'm not sure the Vietnamese would have been all that well received, either. But whatever... If you prefer to believe in negative stereotypes, no amount of factual information is likely to sway you.

True, but the OP's complaint was not that the beef turned to "mush." It was that the beef was "was unpleasantly chewy and verging on tough." And my personal opinion is that the problem was the prolonged deep frying, perhaps followed by insufficient stewing time, rather than it being a cheap cut of "supermarket stew meat." Which I believe likely had no bearing on it whatsoever. _________________________

I'm no food chemist, and also no expert. I've just been making beef/lamb/etc. stew for about four decades according to the way my grandmama taught me, and haven't given it much thought, if any, so my observations might be wrong. But... Seems to me that by browning the meat in that much oil, you kinda defeat the purpose. Isn't it to get a good crust/caramelization on the meat and to put some nice brown scrapings in the bottom of the pot? I wouldn't think that with that much oil, you'd build up any fond. And I always thought a nice fond gave you that deep, rich flavor that good stew has. I actually use as little fat as I think I can get away with so that I don't have to drain it, and I can keep all that flavor in the pot. I do dredge the meat chunks in seasoned flour, and then watch carefully to be sure it doesn't burn. I do this in my heavy Dutch oven, which is wide enough to properly fry the meat, so that I can keep all of the flavor in one pot. I fry them a few cubes at a time, and then set aside until all the cubes are browned. After all the meat is nicely browned and a good fond is built up, I return all the meat to the pot, add the liquids and aromatics and onions, garlic, etc., and simmer for about a half-hour or so. Then add carrots & celery & turnips or whatever. Then simmer until the meat is almost tender, and add the potatoes last. I dunno. Works for me. And I've used every sort of beef there is - whatever's on sale. Certainly including supermarket "stew meat." Maybe I'm in the minority here, but I very much doubt that the "supermarket meat" was the problem. After all, that's pretty much why stewing was invented - to make cheap/tough meats palatable. _____________________________

Boy, I'll second the dolmas suggestion. I buy them all the time. And frankly like them best at room temperature.

Well, maybe what I had was just the large white limas, and not giant white limas. I mean, they were pretty big. And pretty white. But maybe not giant. I haven't had them that long so if you haven't had the giant white limas "for years," that couldn't be what we ate. Can't get the lima conundrum out of my mind. I did get that bag out of the freezer, so I suppose it's possible it's been in there "for years" although I didn't think so. The beans were about one inch long. Does that make them "giant" or simply large? And they were so good. I'd even say fabulous. I had big plans to order more. If 1" long does make them giant and you don't have any more right now, when, if ever, might you get more? And if they're simply large and not giant, do you have any more large white limas I can order?

We used to do a lot of cross-country traveling with three kids and a dog. In addition to the obvious things, I'd lay in a selection of convenience foods from these nice folks: Mountain House - food for camping, traveling, etc. Don't know where exactly in Canada you are, but if you click on the Canada link, you'll get a list of retailers that sell the Mountain House products. ___________________

Well, maybe what I had was just the large white limas, and not giant white limas. I mean, they were pretty big. And pretty white. But maybe not giant. I haven't had them that long so if you haven't had the giant white limas "for years," that couldn't be what we ate.

Andie, they were these: Rancho Gordo giant white lima beans Speaking as someone that thought she hated lima beans, these were an absolute revelation. I still can't get over it. __________________________

We bought some of the large limas from Rancho Gordo and I prepared them for dinner last week. I just want to say that it turned out to be one of the most delicious pots of any vegetables I think I've ever had. I used one whole package of the large limas. I did soak them a bit - maybe a couple of hours. Sauted a half-pound of bacon with two sliced yellow onions and two mashed garlic cloves and about a teaspoon of RG's magical Indio Oregano until the bacon was cooked and the onions were clear. Put the limas back into the pot and added chicken broth to cover limas to a depth of about two inches. (Note - I didn't have any chicken broth in the freezer, so I used water and Knorr's "Caldo de Pollo.") It didn't take long to cook up this pot to simmering perfection - maybe an hour, if that. I think perhaps it's because RG's beans are so fresh that they don't take as long. I had planned to serve this as a side dish the first night, and then add some ham and serve with cornbread as our main the next night. But there was not even so much as one drop left. And now the whole family is clamoring for more.

We drink a lot of Mexican hot chocolate, and perhaps up there in cold Canada, you'll find you're going through it more quickly than you expected. We make it with hot water brought just to the simmer (remember "Like Water for Chocolate"?), pour it into the mug, and then top it with whipped cream. Also, although it doesn't use much, I put a bit of it into my chili recipe. For every pound of meat, I usually put in a chunk of chocolate that corresponds to about a quarter-wedge of an Abuelita disc. Not sure exactly how much that is - I just eyeball it with other brands that don't come in those discs (like Mayordomo) - but think it's perhaps about a tablespoonful. Although again, you won't go through much of it this way - unless, of course, you make a lot of chili. ____________________