Doodad

Sounds very good. Certainly along the lines of how I make a pot roast. Two things I do that I think improve it greatly is cut the roast into large chunks prior to browning so I get more sear and fond. The other is ala Keller, strain the braise liquid about an hour before being done and discard the worn out vege. Then replace with fresh vege to get a brighter taste and texture out of them.

I have experienced this with jalapenos as well. Typically I have seen this during off season production ie winter when I assume even Florida is cool enough to not produce the same peppers as the summer heat. It has been enough that I have skipped over to other pepper varieties in the mean time. Also, Asian markets don't seem to have this issue. Their peppers taste like peppers and they have more varieties than mainstream markets.

Bulgogi, Ma Po Tofu, Pork and Shrimp dumplings, Water dumplings, rice and twice cooked pork.

One thing we do down here that makes them even better is broil them for just a minute until the sugar glaze starts to brown and crisp. Delicious.

Daughter is out on Spring Break and is coming over tomorrow for a huge dim sum feast and larder stocking. I have bulgogi and pork/scallion pancakes on my plate to do. I got bbq pork for the pancakes and for twice cooked pork main course. Ma Po Tofu as a "soup" course. We are also doing three kinds of dumplings: Tibetan Beef, Pork and Shrimp and soup dumplings.

Thomas Hardy Ale. Meant to be aged. And in my mind served with a plum pudding.

You could do chiles relleno.

I found it at Crate and Barrel of all places. And on sale so I bought two. Now what to do with it. I plan on making a grilled med vege cous cous and putting some harissa in it. I have some meatballs in the freezer so one night we are doing Moroccan meatball subs with halumi cheese and harissa marinara sauce.

You may want to peruse On The Line by Eric Ripert. There is a whole chapter on the sommelier. And, I believe it was last month's Saveur that had an article by one of the Le Bernadin sommelier on the how, why and difficult customers. Hope that helps.

I try to plan out at least 5 days and generally will cook up some large items that can share an oven or grill to hold for during the week. Say a pork shoulder that is a roast for Sunday dinner, carnitas style tacos another night, and twice cooked pork for an asian night. This works fairly well, but inevitably the store is out of something or another item looks or costs better and I just adjust. And then I play during the week with short trip for sides needed or if another main just sounds better. Bread and fish for example I only buy the day of cooking. I just can't buy fresh fish or shrimp and then freeze it. Feels wrong.

Butte is where I had my first pasty at Jack's Pasty Shop. Obviously a legacy of the miners and being there on summer camp as a geology student it was made that much more magical. I find them pretty easy to make, but we do the beans and HP sauce on ours.

I have to say that Ecuador left us pretty cold. Nice looking geography, but I would not be in a real hurry to vacation there and chase meals there. The grandmother's cooking though looked outstanding.

Went to the garden today and sowed in some fertilizer since we have had so much rain here. Raked it as well. I had some lettuce and spinach that I had planted from seed still growing, LOL. Starting seeds for lettuce, diakon, pak choy and green onions today.

The Mexican work crew that we have moving our company are guys I know and have been great sources of tasty snacks at lunch. One of the things that surprised me was the incredibly hot guacamore they had for lunch. As hot as any salsa and they all said that was how it was supposed to be made. Dunno, I could not taste anything but peppers and I like both peppers and avocado. Anyway. The foreman told me about Macisa (his spelling). Little info so far, but it is a posole stew of sorts with varying ingredients. Can someone tell me about this? Language was a barrier as I no habla Espanol except cocina and !%#$%^&*^#@#$@.

Unbelievable. Having jumped into the British forum on the show I knew what was coming and agree it was a plant.

I have many seeds we picked up a few weeks ago. I am starting daikon, pak choy, mustard greens, lettuce and green onions in an aquarium with growlights. The garden opens March 20 and I expect to transplant that weekend or the next. That garden should hold me until about late May when my summer vege will go in.

My grandmother always made dirty rice with the necks and organs. Mom uses them in stuffing broth. I would probably braise them and stuff something with them. Chicken tamales or something.

I smoked brisket and pork ribs and made greens, slaw, bbq beans and mac n cheese for sides. In the back are Carolina Red and Yella sauces.

I just came back from the intl grocery and looked in the mex section. Something called menudo mix looked a lot like the stuff in your bag.

Dried hibiscus flowers on the bottom? Fleur de Jamaica in Spanish. The other might be dried pequin peppers? I had a friend who is from Acapulco bring me fresh ones and they were that size. Same pepper as in piri piri I think.

The original post was about cooked dishes, and if the reasons for their tasting better the second day are connected with heating an cooling, then any changes in coleslaw would be from a different cause. Agreed. Sorry if I was not clear. Cole slaw is (to me anyway) all about acids breaking down the vegetables. I don't associate it with the same process as a braised dish.

Cole slaw I get. Made some the other day rustic style. Acids need time to break the cabbage down. I am not sure that is what happens with mostly liquid dishes although some braises are very acidic.

If I had to guess, and it is a SWAG that I am performing, I would think that it is like opening a bottle of wine. You are allowing air and time to play with volatile elements (especially herbs and acids) to allow them to oxidize a bit. Just my hunch.

What did you finally decide on the sides for the Wellington?

Korean groceries. They have boneless bulgogi meat (ribeye) that is varying degrees of thickness. Works great and comes in all sizes of packages.