David Ross

Glad you reminded me of it. I can get Mexican crema at most of our local supermarkets.

In addition to salsa, what other condiments do you like on street tacos, crispy tacos and any other dish you serve with salsa? In addition to cilantro, I like thinly sliced red radish that I soak in ice water to get them crisp. Sometimes a little queso fresa cheese and always fresh cilantro. But I just remembered the pickled red onions I make. It's a recipe I've used for years that comes from Chef Rick Bayless and couldn't be easier. Ingredients- 1 large red onion, thinly sliced 2 cups water 1 cup apple cider vinegar 1 tbsp. salt 1 tbsp. granulated sugar Instructions- Cut the ends off the onion. Use a mandoline-style vegetable slicer to slice the onion into thin rings. We set the slicer to cut thin onion rings no more than 1/8" thick. Cut the slices of onion in half. In a saucepan, add the water, apple cider vinegar, salt and sugar and bring to boil. Take the saucepan off the heat and add the sliced red onion. Let the brine and onions cool to room temperature, then place in a container, cover and refrigerate overnight to pickle. The onions will turn a bright pink during pickling.

This is a new peach tart recipe I made last year and will be making this season. In Eastern, WA, where I live, the peaches don't ripen until late August, and I always think the best peaches are in the first days of September. While I love a fresh peach pie and peach cobbler, this is a lighter tart and just as good. Ingredients For the Peach Tart- 1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed 1/2 cup sour cream 1 tbsp. buttermilk (buttermilk thins the sour cream but it's optional) 1 large egg 2/3 cup finely ground almonds 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract 1/3 cup granulated sugar ripe peaches, cut in half, pit removed, skin left on We like to leave the skin on the peaches to hold their shape, but it's optional. 2 tbsp. apricot jam warmed in the microwave For the Almond Meringues- 4 egg whites 1/4 tsp. cream tartar 1/4 cup sugar sliced almonds Prepare the tart- Heat the oven to 400. Unfold the sheet of puff pastry and lay it on a sheet of parchment paper. Using the bottom of a tart pan or a plate as a template, place it on top of the puff pastry and cut a round out of the sheet of puff pastry. Take a smaller round and place it on top of the round of puff pastry. The smaller round template should be about 1/2" smaller than the round of pastry. Using a paring knife gently score the pastry using the template as a guide. Don't cut all the way through the pastry, we just want to score it to create a rim once the pastry shell is baked. Place the parchment on a cookie sheet and bake the puff pastry in the oven until puffed-up, about 12 minutes. Let the pastry shell cool, then use your fingers to gently press down the puffed-up pastry in the center of the shell. This creates a nest for the peaches and cream mixture. In a bowl add the egg, ground almonds, vanilla, and sugar. Beat the mixture until combined. Spoon the cream mixture in the cavity of the puff pastry and place the peach halves on top. Warm the apricot jam for 20 seconds in the microwave, then gently brush on top of the peaches. Return the tart to the oven and bake for 10 minutes. Make the meringues and finish the tart- Place the egg whites in the bowl of a mixer. Beat the egg whites on slow, moving to medium, until they are glossy and smooth with soft peaks. Turn the mixer to high and add the cream of tartar. Slowly add the sugar while beating the egg whites until they are white and form stiff peaks. Remove the tart from the oven and turn the temperature down to 325. Dollop spoonfuls of the meringue around the tart and sprinkle with the slivered almonds. Bake the tart for another 12-15 minutes until the meringues are lightly brown and crisp to the touch. Serve the tart slightly warm or at room temperature with whipped cream.

This morning I was scrolling through some of my eGullet posts and found this wonderful Cook-Off from 2015. It's of course timely right now tis this is the season of grilling, shellfish in particular. What is your favorite shellfish to grill, and any recent examples? We have some good prices locally on lobster right now so I'm thinking of a new grilled lobster dish.

Have you ever used tamarind in a Mexican salsa? I found one of my old recipes for a sauce using tamarind juice that I use for Indian dishes, but reading through the ingredients it actually fits well within our Cook-Off. The other ingredients include jalapeno, fresh mint, a bit of sugar and vinegar. I'll change things up a bit, but wondering if anyone has used tamarind in a salsa.

Two questions this morning. Have you ever used a dried fruit to make a salsa? Or have you ever used a fruit paste? I've got my eye on a salsa using guava, but it's not available fresh in my local markets. But the Mexican grocer sells dried guava and also a thick guava paste. The salsa also includes dried pequin peppers. I'll most likely not use a pequin pepper because it sounds like it would blow my head off.

We have racoons this year, big ones. I've rarely seen them in the past but I know they lurk around here. I live about a block from the Spokane River, so they probably have lots of good stuff to munch on down there. A few weeks ago I came back early morning after and errand and a big one was halfway up a tree. Big as in probably 20lbs. Maybe that's why I've seen plants and such with munch marks on them!

I've been following Russ and his adventures in Ireland and it's a wonderful story of his life these days.

This pork has turned out to be so versatile, and why it's been delicious with salsas, I also put some into menudo. Our best local Mexican grocer and cafe makes menudo and posole on the weekends, so I bought their menudo and add some of this pork.

Sometimes I find that the original idea of a dish actually turns out to be better over the course of the next few days when I change how I serve it. This is the hominy salad I did with the quail, but I found that it's actually better as a tostada. A bed of cabbage slaw on top of a crispy tostada shell, then some of the hominy salad and the Roasted Tomatillo Salsa Verde on the side. Quick and easy and a very tasty dish that's full of vibrant, fresh flavors.

I love the flour tortillas and should use them more. I like to put them on a stovetop cast iron grill pan to warm and soften them. I thought they went better with this pork than corn tortillas. The bark and fat is soft and very delicious. I'll do a test with both the roasted tomatillo salsa verde and this toasted chile-tomatillo salsa and let everyone know how it tastes after being thawed.

The pork shoulder turned out delicious. Very moist and juicy and I kept all the fat and didn't trim it off. Served as simple street tacos. Sometimes I use corn tortillas, but I had been having a taste for flour tortillas so used those, then a bed of shredded cabbage. I didn't toss the cabbage with any dressing, but it would be good with a little olive oil and lime juice. Then thin slices of the pork shoulder and fat. The soft bark on the pork added a lot of flavor. Then topped with a spoonful of the Roasted Chile-Tomatillo Salsa and served with a lime wedge. The deeper flavors of this salsa went very well with pork. There is so much pork leftover I'll have plenty to serve in a chili or stew, freeze for later, sandwiches, and probably some crispy tacos. Another question for everyone, have you ever frozen salsa? Did you find it had flavor once it was thawed?

For this Roasted Chile-Tomatillo Salsa I ended up using it with a slow-roasted pork shoulder that was marinated overnight in a sour orange adobo. I buy pork shoulders or legs at a local supermarket that sells them with the skin on, what my Father called the pork "rind." (He meant fresh pork rind, but also loved bags of fried pork rinds). The thick skin holds in that underlayer of fat which keeps the meat juicy during the slow-roasting, and I happen to be one who likes eating that delicious fat with the pork meat. (I usually don't allow bar codes on limes in photos.....) I started with an old recipe from Saveur for "Crispy Roast Pork," for the adobo marinade then tinkered with it for my tastes and added some more ingredients from the original recipe. I buy bottled sour orange juice at the local Mexican market. When I taste it I don't find it overly sour, but I'm sure my family and friends wouldn't like it as they only know the taste of sweet orange juice. This adobo is a thick paste that I rubbed into slits in the meat and all around the pork, then in a large covered container to marinate overnight. This beast isn't pretty at this stage, but this is what it looks like after rubbed with the thick adobo. For this adobo I also added one small packet of dried annatto seasoning for color. This was a 7 1/2 lb. pork shoulder 2 tbsp. toasted cumin seeds 2 tbsp. black peppercorns 4 dried ancho chiles, seeds removed and toasted 12 cloves garlic, toasted (like I did for the tomatillo salsa) 1 onion, toasted (like I did for the tomatillo salsa) 2 tbsp. sugar 1 cup sour orange juice 2 tbsp. fresh lime juice 1/2 cup olive oil 1/2 tsp. dried cayenne pepper Blend all the ingredients in a blender to make a thick paste. (Thin with more orange juice or water if needed). Cut some slits into the underside of the pork shoulder and rub in the adobo and then rub the adobo all over the pork shoulder. Place in a large container and cover and refrigerate overnight. Next will be serving the pork with the Roasted Chile-Tomatillo Salsa above in street tacos.

If I'm remembering this salsa had both red tomatoes and tomatillos, but I would agree that in season, local tomatoes have a lot of flavor and are sweeter than a tomatillo. But I like the roasted tomatillo salsa I posted earlier. I like the piquant flavor of the tomatillo.

A blurry photo from the dinner thread and a 2015 post of Grilled Flank Steak with Roasted Tomatillo Salsa. This salsa looks a lot different than the one I've posted in our discussion, but it does look delicious. As with most beef prices where I live, flank steak is beyond the budget right now, but I can get very good skirt steak at the local Mexican market for a good price. So I've realized that a tomatillo salsa is versatile to work with scallops and also a beefy cut of meat.

Just out of the can and rinsed in a colander. It's a brand made in Mexico. I buy the yellow hominy because I think it has more flavor.

Last night I paired the Roasted Tomatillo Salsa with Quail and Hominy Salad. The quail was delicious with the salsa, but I found a new way to use salsa. It wasn't planned, but the salsa and hominy sort of ran together and I thought, uh-oh. The image certainly looks like a mess, but the tomatillo salsa was delicious as a dressing for the hominy. I had just tossed the hominy with olive oil and a touch of apple cider vinegar, with the salsa mixed in it was much more flavorful. I butterflied the quail and rubbed it with olive oil, then seasoned with salt and pepper. Didn't want to go to the trouble of firing up the outdoor grill, so I just seared it in a hot pan, then into the oven for about 10 minutes. Delicious little birds. A mild game flavor and easy to pick up with your fingers. I buy them at a local Asian grocery store where they are incredibly cheap, $8 for 8 quail. The salad is yellow hominy, some diced tomato, diced onion, diced radish, cilantro. I forgot to add some diced jalapeno. Seasoned with chili powder, vinegar, olive oil and a little salt and pepper. This would be a delicious salad at a summer picnic, and I think more delicious dressed in the roasted tomatillo salsa. So now I'm open to using salsa not just as a separate part of a dish, but mixing into dishes.

Wow thanks I'm definately going to try that recipe.

I do like a fresh zucchini "pancake" sauteed like a potato pancake.

I also worked in a cannery in the summers in the Willamette Valley in Oregon. The market size zucchini we never saw, but we processed those huge zucchini into chopped frozen mix or pureed it for foodservice use. Zuchinni frozen is terribly limp and I've never taken much to it. The patty pan is also good roasted until soft and tossed with garlic and butter.

I just might try that zucchini cake. I still have some nightmares over summer zucchini. When I was in my early teens I worked for a local farmer harvesting his zucchini. He actually was one of our junior high school teachers so we got him winter and summer! Granted that was in the early 70's, but the technique hasn't changed much. He drove the tractor with a flatbed contraption that had large wood crate boxes on the back end. We, as in about 8 of us, bent over with a big machete, cut the zucchini at the stem and just threw it up into the bins, without looking up. Head to ground cutting zucchini add day wasn't much fun, but I suppose we made good money. Anyway the two dishes above sound very delicious.

Another one of our summer Cook-Off's at eGullet, Summer Squash. Right now summer squash are growing in our home gardens and fill farmer's market stands. Do you have any new summer sqaush dishes you'll be making this summer?

Well I think what I'm going to do is serve the quail with the first tomatillo salsa verde I did. I think that salsa will work better with the quail. Then this latest roasted tomatillo salsa with chiles, I think it would be better served with some roasted pork.

It's a pretty thick and deep flavored salsa, so I'm re-thinking what is the best way to serve it

Now on to another tomatillo salsa, but this one includes toasted, dried chiles. The recipe I use a few years bask as the base calls it Roasted Garlic Tomatillo Salsa with but I just call it a Tomatillo-Dried Chile Salsa. For the tomatillos I used the same technique as the fresh tomatillo salsa, run them under the broiler to soften and get some char. For this batch I used dried chiles I had on hand, Ancho, Mulato and Cascabel. The heat factor would be considered in the mild range. When I make red chile sauce, I cut out the stem and remove all the seeds from dried chiles. For this salsa, I cut out the stem and the main seed pod with scissors, but left some of the seeds. The chiles were toasted in a dry, hot cast-iron skillet until they puff up and get soft, then you catch a whiff of a wonderful smokey aroma. I added about a tablespoon of water to thin the salsa just a bit, then processed with, a lot, (10 cloves), of toasted garlic cloves, Mexican oregano, salt, pepper, and a bit of sugar and a few drops of liquid smoke and a bit of fresh cilantro from the garden. I've got some quail in the freezer so I think I might grill them and serve with the salsa. Also thinking about serving this salsa with an egg dish for breakfast.