gknl

Seems to be his distributer's choice, if not his own. Pretty foolhardy, if you ask me, but what do I know compared to him? I didn't look too hard, but they do sell video copies, but I'm sure it's for an exorbitant price. http://www.zipporah.com/faq.html "I am a student/filmmaker/individual without the resources to rent or purchase a film. How can I see a particular Wiseman film? We have the Wiseman films on deposit at several public libraries and archives throughout the United States. One of the largest collections is at the Museum of Television & Radio in New York City and Los Angeles. Patrons may not remove the films from the premises but there are video booths available to view films and television programs free of charge. If New York and Los Angeles are not convenient please call us and we will let you know if there is a library in your area with any of the films." Has anyone seen Cinema Verite: Defining a Movement? It's a documentary about the history of cinema verite aka direct cinema. I taped it, but haven't gotten around to watching it yet. http://us.imdb.com/Title?0220364 ediot: damn typos

Thanks Sladeums and memesuze! The whole concept of mole is interesting to me with all the variations (and rivalries, I assume). Did it originate in Oaxaca and spread elsewhere? Or do they just do it best, if in fact, they do do it best? Ah, time for some research. I made a trip to KMart tonight. They had more California and New Mexico chiles than any other kind. And in more different sized packages. Is it a regional thing that those two would be so dominant? I know there's more to using dried chiles than moles. . . . But I seem to remember reading somewhere that anchos were the most commonly used dried chile in Mexico. I ended up buying four different kinds, all from Tampico, a Los Angeles company. Comparing the chiles to the photos on the above websites, I bought "Pasilla chili pods" with "chile ancho" beneath, which I think are ancho chiles, but the larger ones aren't as squat as the smaller ones; "Negro chili pods" which I think are dried pasillas; and then some more California and New Mexico. The pasilla-anchos I used in the last batch were more like ancho than the dried negro/pasillas I have now (this is confusing). I bought some canela and Ibarra chocolate (only $1.58 for 18 oz!) too, thinking I should try harder to follow the recipe next time (of course, that's when I usually screw up ). I also picked up something called "Cola de Caballo- shave grass" which I'd never noticed before and thought was interesting/weird. It does look like grass and the package said to use 1 tablespoon of herbs per cup of boiling water. Smells like grass too. Anyone try it before? Thanks for the book recomendations too. Decisions, decisions. . . . If it's not too personal to ask, how many cookbooks/Mexican cookbooks do you have? I've always liked them, but lately it's gotten worse. I forget who it was, but when asked how many good recipes a book needed to be worth owning, the person said "one."

Yes, correct, we should have established that earlier. Just don't tell a Oaxacan that Mole Poblano is the mole of default Is there a default mole there? Or is it always the seven basics? Thanks for the Bayliss recipe too. It looks great. And I love the name.

Some of them were ancho, but some of them were probably pasilla too. There did seem to be two distinct types of chiles in there. I would say 2/3 were ancho, triangular and wrinkled. The others I don't remember being as long as the pasilla in the photo, but they were definitely more elongated than squat. I'll look for the same kind next time I go to Kmart. Here's the site I found that had some substitutions listed: http://www.foodsubs.com/Chiledry.html Chile taxonomy is confusing, just recognizing the different types is hard enough let alone matching up each chile with a taste. Good excuse to cook more, huh?

Wow, thanks! That helps a lot for the next time I try this. I knew pretty early into the process that I wasn't making the Bayliss recipe anymore, but was hoping for something that didn't suck. The ingredients I needed are readily available, just not at the chain-marts 5 minutes from my house. The best place I've found for Mexican goods is Super KMart, believe it or not. Cheap prices, but the service sucks. I'm definitely going to go on a pantry stocking trip soon. I just wasn't up for another trip that night. Lazy. Some of the chiles were dry, especially the bag of "Pasilla Ancho" (what the label said) which I bought last year sometime on a whim. I read that Pasillas are often mislabeled as Anchos, but the bag seemed to contain two different kinds of chiles. Half were round and darker, the other half were slightly elongated and a bit lighter. Could the bag have contained both? I don't know. I tore the chiles into chunks because they were curling and I thought they would be eaiser to work with that way. Now I know better. There was a thought process behind my substitutions. From what I read, mole is basically chile puree, nuts, and chocolate plus seasoning. So using different chiles wouldn't kill the dish, just make it taste differently. Chocolate is cocoa, cocoa butter, and sugar. Since the recipe only called for an ounce, I figured the lack of cocoa butter wouldn't hurt that much. Again, I thought it would taste different, but not necessarily bad. The Kennedy books are definitely on my list of books necessary for a well-ordered collection. And I think I need a new blender too. Anyway, if I can make something tasty, anyone else can too. Give it a try!

Thanks! No chocolate gene as in can't metabolize it or just can't stand the taste of it? Any tips on chile pastes?

Initially, the process took about 5 hours, counting a digression where I splashed a bit of chili puree on my pants that I like enough not to ruin (I'll never do that again) and had to change and soak them with some detergent. ugh. It was barely edible at that stage though. And disappointing because I was hoping I got away with not doing it right. I took it out of the refrigerator after about 8 hours and gently reheated it. It was a completely different taste. The barely edible bitterness was gone. Magic. First time I'd experienced such a dramatic transformation. So the total time from start to edibility was almost 14 hours. Nice balance between sweet and chili kick. I think you're right about mole diversity. It seems to me to be very flexible, especially since I don't really have a mental taste of what great mole should be. Resilient too, since if the ultimate goal is something that tastes good rather than recreating a classic, you can substitute stuff and still have it work. I'm sure others would differ with my definition of acceptable, much like someone who won't eat pesto made in a blender instead of a mortor and pestle. But I've never been that picky. Ignorance is bliss. Mexican chocolate is sweetened and has cinnamon added. I'm not sure if it's generically the same stuff as the Mexican hot chocolate blocks I've bought before. I seem to remember having some that had almonds added as well as cinnamon. I've never seen CSI. Unfortunately, I work M-Th nights which kills tv for me. If I taped shows to watch later, I wouldn't be able to hang out here as much.

I made mole for the first time on Saturday night/Sunday morning. I've eaten it a few times in restaurants and bought a jarred version after reading an article that said this one brand was acceptable (it was good), but never made it from scratch before. I had a pot luck lunch/meeting scheduled for Sunday afternoon. They chose Mexican, so I was stuck. I scoured my three Mexican books, Cantina by the Two Hot Tamales; One Plate by Bayliss, and Border Cookbook by the Jamisons. For some reason, Bayliss' Apricot-Pine Nut Mole jumped out at me and once I thought about it, I couldn't do anything else. Didn't matter that I've never made anything like it before. Didn't matter that I've never used dried chilis before. Oh, and did I mention one of them's a professional chef? Once I thought of it, I had to do it. I made the grocery list: tomatillos, sesame seeds, dried ancho chilis. I had the dried apricots, pine nuts, garlic, chicken stock and chocolate (I thought). Store #1 Safeway had tomatillos and sesame seeds, but no whole dried chilis. Store #2 Albertson's had whole dried California, New Mexico, and Guajillo chiles, but no anchos. No way was I driving to another store this late. I bought a bag of each kind thinking maybe one of them was a regional synonym for ancho. I found a bag labelled Pasilla Ancho in the cupboard too. But a quick google search led me to a site that explained that probably none of them were real anchos. Oops #1. I decided to use the bag of Pasilla Ancho (3 oz.) and then half California and half New Mexico with a coupld of Guajillos thrown in for the hell of it. Oops #2: procrastinating on egullet, I notice it's 9:45 pm and decide I probably should get started. I assemble some of the ingredients and stem and seed the dried chilis just to get started doing something. I did remember to use gloves, but didn't think it would take as long as it did to do the 6 oz of chilis. It's now 10:30. I get the rest of the ingredients only to find oops #3, the recipe calls for Mexican chocolate and not only do I not have any of that, I'm out of all forms of baking chocolate too. But I do have some Williams-Sonoma sweet chocolate and Hershey's unsweetened cocoa powder. And there's really no way I'm driving to the store again now. I plunge ahead, roasting the tomatillos without incident. I toast the dried chilis, learning not to put a lot of small pieces in at once because they're really hard to fish out before they over-cook, cover them with boiling water to soak. Back to the tomatillos, I mix them with the sesame seeds (toasted), fried pine nuts, fried garlic, bread and spices. Since I don't have chocolate, I try to figure out how much powder to use. I end up with 4 tablespoons of the sweet chocolate and one tablespoon of unsweetened cocoa, plus an extra 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon because that's in Mexican chocolate. I don't know why that worked, but it seemed to taste "right" though I don't really have a clue as to what "right" is. Back to the chilis. It said to taste the soaking water and if it's bitter not to use it. I had tasted it earlier and it wasn't bitter at all. I measured 2 cups, tasted it again, it was a little bitter, then as I added 1 cup, the bitterness kicked in. Oops #4, but at least I didn't add the whole 2 cups. I added 1 1/2 cups plain water after that. I blend it up and then strain it. I hope a lot of the bitterness is in the solids, so I don't press down very hard on it, discarding a fair amount. I add the tomatillo mixture to the blender and find I have to add 2 cups of chicken stock to get it to swirl. It's supposed to be smooth, but it's thick and chunky and since it's supposed to be cooked down, I don't want to add too much liquid. I don't strain it, deciding that I'm making the rustic variation. Oops #5. I reduce the chili puree and then the tomatillo blend without incident, add the rest of the stock and simmer away. After an hour, I taste it and it's bitter. And needs salt and sugar (both in the recipe). I add the salt first and it intensifies the bitterness. Oh oh. . . . I add the sugar which tames it a bit, but there's still a definite bitterness to the sauce. I keep it on low while I sautee some boneless, skinless chicken breasts sprinkled with salt, pepper, and chili powder in the left over oil from frying the chilis, garlic, and pine nuts. One last taste and the bitterness is still there. I clean up the kitchen and by the time I'm in bed it's around 4 am. I'm tired and annoyed by the thought that I'm going to have to get up early and get some butternut squash tamales from Picante's Cocina on the way to the meeting. And that I still have to serve the mole if nothing else so they can tell me what I did wrong (though I have a good idea I screwed up the chili toasting/soaking). I get up and heat the sauce on low, resigned to failure, and lo and behold, somehow overnight, the bitterness vanished! It's actually good. The other people thought it was good too. Now I want to make it "right" and also to try other versions. It seems, at least to my uneducated palate, to be a resilient dish. It takes some effort and time, but nothing really that difficult or complicated to do. Does anyone have any other versions they'd like to share?

There's a hamburger place in LA, some chain I can't remember the name of right now, that does a chili-cheese-egg (with runny yolk) burger that was amazing. And yes, it was at 3 am and there had been alcohol consumption (back in the good old days).

Once, at a restaurant in Germany (where the butter was amazing), there was a crock on the table filled with white stuff. Thinking it was butter, I greedily slathered it on my bread only to find it was goose fat. My father was very amused. Actually though, once I scraped it off into a reasonable amount, it wasn't bad. And by the third bite, I was liking it. But it wasn't butter. Someone else asked this too, why is Euro butter so much better than ours? I remember liking the German milk better too, especially the milk in the packages that didn't need to be refrigerated before they were opened.

My favorite salad at the yuppie-mart near work is: spring mix with grapes, roasted pear, and brie with a balsamic vinegrette. The cheese and fruit combo is what makes it.

Sauteed boneless, skinless chicken breasts with pine nut-apricot mole from Rick Bayless' One Plate at a Time. Had a pot-luck with some people who chose Mexican for the theme. One of them's a professional cook, so it's always nerve-wracking, but despite my serious attempt to murder the dish, it tasted pretty good. Good enough that it makes me think of how much better it will be if I do it right next time.

I have one, a Fagor 6 qt. I've had it for oh, maybe 5 years. I bought it because a friend of mine, who swears by hers, got me a deal. I've never used it. I unpacked it, washed it, and then never used it. I've taken it out of the garage more than once intending just to do something wtih it, but it never happens. I've never even used it as a regular pot. I don't know why, fear probably. Fear of the unknown even though I've seen my friend and her husband use theirs many times (that's what inspired me to get it in the first place). I even bought two pressure cooker cookbooks thinking that would help me get over the block. Nope. I suck.

So if you buzzed tapioca in a food processor or blender, then mixed it with a liquid you'd have this miracle stuff?

Wow, that looks great! Thanks. Has anyone else ever done one of these anywhere? I just finished Susan Loomis' On Rue Tatin which makes me want to go back to Europe very badly. . . .

Are there a lot of these types of programs out there? It seems interesting and not all that expensive (if one were going to Europe anyway) considering it's food and lodging for a week. But how much would one learn there? I know it depends on how much you want to learn and the level of your commitment while you're there. But are they just for the "tourist-tourists" (by definition anyone there would be a tourist) or are there some that go beyond entertaining rich people who need a structured environment? I admit I have an aversion to tours in general though. And if you get stuck with the wrong five other people, it could be a week in vacation hell!

I like eating grilled food, but using the Webers is unwieldly because they're so old and certain parts don't work so well anymore. They're also the models where the grill itself isn't adjustable, it's a fixed height over the coals. So I'm looking for something easier to use, especially for large quantities. I've been drooling over the smoked meat threads which is why I decided to give smoking the pork tenderloins a shot (with no expectation that it would actually work), so now I want one that will do both. I like the layout and capacity of my friend's shiny stainless steel gas grill, but I don't like the gas or the pricetag or now the lack of true smoking capability. I "think" what I want is the charcoal/wood equivilent which something like the Chargrill seems to provide. And looking around a bit, I can see why you called the Chargrill a "starter smoker." I don't think I can justify spending a lot of money on one (yet! ) until I know I'll use it enough and use it well enough. I wouldn't throw the Webers out until they become completely unusable. There is a three-grill party in my future, I can taste it. I'm capable of being conscientious and paying attention to details, I'm just lazy a lot of the time and also curious about "just winging it" to see what happens. But if the results are good enough, I have no problem putting serious time and effort into doing something the right way. I appreciate all the advice and encouragement! Thank you all, especially Dave for letting me hijack his thread.

Thanks, but I'm afraid if I bought one, I wouldn't be able to buy meat for six months. I looked at the Primo's, I couldn't tell much difference between them and the BGE. They don't have dealers in California though (whew) and the $125 extra shipping charge is a killer. Pushes the price to $475 for the cheapie factory second internet sale. $275 buys a lot of meat (the difference in price between the Primo and Chargrill). http://www.primogrill.com/pages/special.htm

I'm going to have to try the "kittens in the oven" line on my girlfriend, she's from Alabama. Thanks for the encouragement on the Chargrill. Compared to the BGE, it is a bargin! And with all the money left over, I could, I mean I'll HAVE to buy a bunch of new toys too, like those probe thermometers. I think I'll nose around a couple of stores just to see some rigs in the flesh, so to speak. And try not to look at Ebay. Luckily, we can grill almost all year here. Can they be used in the rain or does that make them break down faster? Assuming they're dried off afterwards and stuff. Egullet's wiped all thoughts of gas grills from my mind. I've always been an old school traditional kinda guy anyway.

Good luck. Story of my life!

Thanks for the discussion of the Chargrill and Weber! Am I wrong in thinking that if I liked what I did on the Weber, I'd be able to do it better and easier on a Chargrill? What I'm really doing is fishing for excuses not to get a new one, but I know deep down inside, it's inevitable. I just don't want to make an impulse purchase I'll regret later. I'm just glad I held out in joining my friends' exodus to gas grills! They love them, but there was just something unaesthetic about them that kept me from getting one. Chargrill Smokin' Pro, free shipping. . . . . . .

I like mine very much although I use the large one just for slow-cooking; for grilling I get much better results on the small Egg. (I'm in the minority among Eggers here - most of them rave about steaks etc.) Pizza is the exception; it comes out tasting like the best brick-oven examples. A friend uses his to cook nan. Yes, they're expensive (more so now than when I bought mine 5 years ago) but durable, fuel-efficient and easy to control. The heavy ceramic retains heat well, which makes this cooker less sensitive to outdoor temps than metal cookers. It also delivers a great range of cooking temps, from 200 to 1000. The firebox is prone to cracking - mine is actually in two pieces - but that hasn't affected its cooking performance. People have found them for sale on eBay, by the way. Don't take this personally, but I'm gonna pretend I never saw this! Envy is such an ugly emotion. Ebay, is just too tempting.

In which case they're very disappointed in me Everyone knows the oranges are only for tourists.

Thanks for the great discussion of Weber v Chargrill! My poor Webers have been severely neglected over the years. But they still work. The Chargrill is very tempting and does seem to offer good performance for the price. Some of the grills I've seen looked really good, but come too expensive for me to think about. I'm not sure about the maintenance though, that's definitely not my strong point. But it's much less humid where I live, and a cover would help during the rainy season, right? Decisions, decisions. . . . Have you ever been to the Big Green Egg store? Not that I'll shell out a grand for a grill, but they "sound" pretty cool. They seem similar to a tandoor oven, but maybe that's just the shape. http://www.biggreenegg.com/

Here's what I did, including all the dumb stuff: Nuked the meat until it was mostly defrosted, still a bit frozen in the middle. Drizzled the meat with a bit of canola oil and rubbed one tenderloin with Cajun beef seasoning mix (salt, garlic powder, black pepper, cayenne pepper, cumin) and one with something I mixed up, with salt, pepper, garlic, onion, poultry seasoning, and paprika (I think. I made it a while ago and like an idiot didn't write anything down. Time to get a kitchen notebook!). I let them sit while I lit the coals. I over-filled the chimney starter so it took a couple of batches of newspaper and a long time to get going. I tried Alton Brown's trick of putting some oil on the paper, but couldn't tell if it really helped or not. I used Jack Daniel's Briquets and soaked a Cool Whip container (yeah, like I'm the only one who has one of those lying around!) full of Jack Daniel's wood chips (oak). I put a 9x13 aluminum pan in the grill which took up more than half the space and because the charcoal grate is starting to go, was lopsided and only took a quart of water. I dumped the coals on the other side of it, piling them up and making sure the unlit ones were on top of lit ones. When the flames died down, I put the wood chips on top, replaced the grill and put the meat on over the water pan. My Webers are older than yours and the bottom vents don't adjust too well, but they're frozen wide open. I put the lid on and closed the top vents about half way. Nice smoking, but I thought it was blowing too close to the house and thought moving it would help. Lifted the handle and heard the water slosh and then the sizzle of water hitting the coals. Oops. The smoke died down, so I took the lid off and stirred the coals a bit which rejuvenated them. I noticed the meat had a smokey exterior even though it had only been 30 minutes or so. After another 30 minutes, I checked the meat temp which was about 100 (I think). I let it go another 45 minutes and it was up to 150. I checked it again in 5 minutes and one of them actually read cooler. Must not have inserted the thermometer correctly. Dumb move motivated by hunger and time was to move the meat over the coals to try to hasten the last bump up to 160. Of course, thinking about it now, carry over probably would have taken care of it. Oops. But after letting the meat rest while I finished the side dishes, when I cut them up, they were still moist and had a nice thin red ring under the crust. I think I put on too much rub since the outside was a bit hot and salty. But overall, the flavor was far better than I expected, a nice smokiness permeated through the whole thing, definitely different from grilled meat. I couldn't tell much difference between the two rubs, except one had more pepper than the other. I served them with cesaer salad and couscous with pistachio nuts, dried apricots, and Moroccan preserved lemons. The sweet apricot-salty-sour-lemon combo is really good. All in all, I was happy with the results. I don't grill much (both Webers were hand-me-downs from people who switched to gas grills) because of the cleaning hassles, but I think it's going to be more worth the effort now. Thanks again for the instruction and inspiration! But you had to mention the turkey fryer! Yet another thing on my wish list! Your T-day sounds like fun. Doing something similar this year?