Tri2Cook

Congrats! You just combined one of my favorite things (banana bread) with one of my least favorite things (raisins). But what I actually chimed in to say is, you made it look good and I'd probably eat it raisins and all.

I put tamales in the same category as the various types of Asian filled dumplings, perogies, egg rolls, pretty much anything that involves wrapping fillings in some form of wrapper in smaller portions... not difficult in the execution once you get the hang of it, just trying to the patience. Buying tamales, good, bad or ugly, is not an option where I live so that goes a long way towards making me more willing to make them. Margaret Pilgrim's description of "moosh some corn porridge onto a carrier, a leaf or paper, add some savory stew or just cheese and seasoning, wrap it up and steam it" condenses it down to it's purest form and accurately describes the process... but it also makes it sound a lot easier than it actually is to get them to turn out nice until you get the feel for it.

I was actually debating making them this weekend since I'll have some extra time off work but I'm not sure it's going to be cool enough that I want a big steam pot going. I finally, after years of admittedly not-so-diligent trying, found a couple good online sources for Mexican ingredients within Canada and went a bit overboard stocking up. So now I have a list of things I want to make and everything I need to make it all which only lead to the problem of deciding on the order I want to do it all in.

I enjoy making my own but the one you posted the picture of is pretty tasty. The "goofy creamy one they are marketing" is their version of guacamole taquero. Taqueria style guac. Toss a ripe avocado and salsa verde in the blender and you got it. Good stuff, I rarely make the more common type of guacamole anymore.

Gonna go with the questions from the original post... Do you like cereal? Yes. Do you add anything to it? Not usually, other than milk. Do you eat it for breakfast, or at other times? Mainly breakfast, occasionally other times. Do you eat it with milk? Yes. Do you use it in recipes? No. Well, no-ish… I'm not opposed to some Rice Krispie Treats. What are your favorites? The last question requires a little more than a quickie answer. There's the cereal that I eat every day. Literally, every morning unless I plan a nice breakfast on a Sunday or holiday. That's my All Bran Buds. I wouldn't necessarily call it a favorite based on eating enjoyment but it does a dandy job of keeping the pipes clean. A little fruit added goes a long way towards making it more enjoyable but I keep it at work since I'm there so early and usually forget to take fruit in. As far as favorites I actually enjoy eating, most are definitely from the guilty pleasures category. I like Cap'n Crunch, especially the peanut butter version. I like both Fruity and Cocoa Pebbles. I like Corn Pops and I like the original Life (not a big fan of the cinnamon version). I also like Frosted Mini Wheats, original and brown sugar. Yep. there's a major swing between the cereal I actually eat and the cereal I'd probably rather be eating.

Thanks! I saw that one but wasn't sure if that was it.

I've looked through her online cookbook many times but I checked it again before asking, I didn't see it anywhere... at least, not by that name.

Is this a recipe that's made an appearance here on the ol' gullet that I somehow missed or is this one from the Top Secret files? Because a lighter, almost fluffy brownie in a pie crust sounds like something that should be in every life...

That sounds amazing. Unfortunately, obtaining Hatch chiles, roasted or not, where I live would fall somewhere in the range of impossible to prohibitively expensive.

Shredded chicken in adobo. I still haven't decided if it's gonna be tacos, tostadas or quesadillas but I should probably figure that out pretty soon. Salsa verde to accompany whichever it ends up being. Edit: called an audible at the line and did none of what I said I was gonna do. Chicken and cheese (jack, none of the Mexican cheeses are available here) flautas it is...

Salsa verde tonight to go with shredded chicken in adobo that will either be tacos or tostadas or quesadillas, still undecided. Nothing fancy to this one, tossed tomatillos, serrano peppers, onion and garlic cloves in a pot of water and simmered them for a bit, scooped 'em all out of the water and into the blender where they were joined by cilantro and pulverized. Added salt and lime juice until I was happy and called it done. Sometimes I char everything on the grill or in a hot pan instead of simmering... tonight, I did not.

Apologies for drifting... got caught up in the conversation but we don't have a local bakery here to toss in the mix.

Soul food is cooking from the soul. Taking what you got and making it good so you can feed those you love and make them happy and yes, "those you love" most certainly can include yourself. But I'm pretty certain from the follow-up posts that you're looking for stereotypical African American cooking, especially that with roots in the south. The thing is, what's been said above is absolutely true. That cooking isn't much different than what anybody else in the south will have as their culinary roots. There are introductions to the cuisine that came with the people brought over into slavery but they caught on pretty much across the board in the south, not just among the slaves. There are also things that probably stayed predominantly among the poor, but that too without particular racial distinction. What you see in a Chicago "soul food restaurant", you will quite often find on the hot food line in almost every convenience store in the south and definitely on the dinner tables of a large portion of the people... with no racial lines.

I've made a lot of sausage rolls that made me happy... but I don't think the sausage roll purists and those with happy sausage roll memeoty associations would be as happy with them. The standard sausage roll filling I usually see is way too bland for me. I usually use other types of sausage but even when I go with the more traditional filling, I supplement it with some heat (usually cayenne so I don't change the flavor too much).

Tried it one time, many years ago in a Korean restaurant. It's been a long time and my memory can be called to question at times but I don't remember anything particular special about it that I couldn't have got from cutting up a handy used tire and braising it for a bit. But as I said, that was the one and only time I've tried it and I can't vouch for whether that rubbery texture is a characteristic or was a result of mishandling.

I want to sous vide some whole garlic cloves. I've seen recipes for sous vide "garlic confit" where whole cloves are bagged with oil and cooked at 190 F for a few hours but the result isn't what I'm after. The garlic cloves are whole and intact but easily smashed and spreadable. I want them still be fairly firm because I plan to mix them whole into my summer sausage base. They will get some additional cooking time when I smoke the sausages but I pull them at ~155 F so I'm thinking giving the garlic a headstart would be a good idea. Ideally, I'd like the end result in the finished sausage to be somewhere around the texture of a waxy boiled potato and without the raw garlic sharpness. Would simply reducing the tank time for the garlic confit recipe be enough? Or maybe dry bagging without the oil? Or should I be looking at an entirely different approach?

It's a sausage roll... just using your preferred sausage links instead of the loose mixture.

The only thing that baffles me is why it can't be where it was when I was there last week. Rearranging things has never once caused me to buy more. If anything, sometimes I get aggravated because I'm in a hurry and it's not where it should be so I saw screw it and leave without it.

When you go to the grocery store to get the things you need for what you want to cook only to find they've rearranged half the stuff in the store for the third time that week (yes, slight exaggeration) and your inner curmudgeon takes over and you actually ask the store manager if it's really necessary to rearrange the place every week. For the record, said store manager's reply was a friendly "well, every two weeks anyway" which was good for a laugh from me. 😁

Me too but I was thinking it might be handy to have puree ready to use on a whim. And since fruit purees frequently get reduced for use in ganache and other confection related stuff, I thought if I already had that part done, even better. But then it occurred to me that I've actually not seen many blueberry based ganache or confection recipes and can't really remember if those I have seen called for the puree to be concentrated. So I decided to defer to the wisdom of eGullet for my concentrated vs. not decision.

I'm thinking about taking advantage of the abundance of local wild blueberries this year and making some puree for chocolate use. I can't decide between cooking just enough to soften then pureeing and freezing or reducing the puree before freezing to comcentrate it. I'm leaning towards the latter... blueberry flavor doesn't seem to suffer much from cooking. Thoughts?

Why hesitate? It looks good. You said it was good... that's the most important box checked. You baked biscuits, macerated berries and whipped cream in a can is just whipped cream made easier. You put in a lot more effort than most of the desserts I eat at home which usually involve scooping some commercial ice cream in a bowl and shoving it in my mouth. 😁

Looks a bit above my raisin tolerance level but I googled up the recipe anyway. Basically the pecan pie I'm used to with peanuts and raisins replacing the pecans. I'm still not tempted by the raisins but I could see me making my next pecan pie with peanuts instead.

For better or worse, a lot of people are not wanting to accept this virus situation for what it is or are just plain tired of worrying over it. They don't like the disruptions and inconveniences it's brought to their lives. They don't like being told they have to wear masks and distance themselves from others. They don't like being told they can't do things they want to do. A percentage of those people are quite vocal about their dislike or disbelief of the whole thing and that percentage seems to be gaining supporters the longer this goes on. I'm not saying that's a good thing but it certainly is happening, you were bound to find a few of them in your market as well.

Me too... I still have (and use) both of those and his Complete Book of Soups and Stews.