Darienne

Can't resist. Just how many servant girls do you have?

There are so many recipes for Picadillo, I was wondering who had a favorite combination. For years, I made it combining two recipes from Elisabeth Lambert Ortiz, The Complete Book of Mexican Cooking, 'Picadillo' and 'Picadillo de la Costa'. Mine was called 'Picadillo de la Cabana' (We live in Cavan and that was the best I could do. Yes, I know, very silly.) Yesterday's version was without fruit except for the raisins and apples.

Just made my very first Chiles Rellenos yesterday using the cheese-filled variant given by Rick Bayless in his online recipe. What fun! Took photos all along the way just for my own enjoyment and then forgot to photograph the finished product. For the first time every, a grocery in Peterpatch is carrying Poblanos. Not very big ones, but the real stuff anyway. Hooray! A question: I have never read of anyone using Bayless' method for roasting the chiles, but because I was going to fry the rellenos, I decided to try it. Plus I have only electric stove and oven and it's just not the same. The frying method worked well. Made a huge batch of Picadillo yesterday also, so if I can find the Poblanos again, I'll do them in the oven this time. Or use a dried chile...we can buy dried chiles in our local city. In the meantime...I am still floating...

No super market yet in Peterpatch, ON. We have a chain of Kitchen Stuff Plus about one hour from home. I'll try there next time I have to go that far for something. The joys and sorrows of living in a small city area.

We sterilize our dish sponges in the microwave every other day when we are being good...which sometimes we are not...like in the dead of winter because we keep the microwave in the garage. When the sponge is retired from sanitary-type duty, one corner is cut off very noticeably, said mutilated sponge is then kept in a different place and does floor duty, etc. We have dogs. Say no more. And so it goes as we buy new ones for the sink duty. Ed likes big ones...I like smaller ones. However, I am looking for one of those soap filled scrub brushes to use. No luck so far in our local kitchen stores, etc.

Years ago, in another gustatory lifetime, I ordered Dr. Mercola's cook book, Just What the Doctor Ordered. Two carob recipes were quite satisfactory, even delicious at that non-chocolate time, 'I Can't Believe it's not Chocolate' and 'Carob Protein Bar'. I still have the book and have been known to root around in it...but not make anything.

Ditto for posting when I think of the useless gadgets. In the interim, I could not live without my spoon rests, but they are all silicone. ps. Got one and it embarrasses me: The Magic Bullet. Useless little twit of a thing.

Oh. Holy. Cats. I made this tonight with an admittedly sad 1/2 bunch of broccoli from my CSA. Wow. Wow. Did not blow me out of the water, it blew me out of the universe. This soup is phenomenal. PHENOMENAL. Spectacular would not be an overstatement. I tossed in a (very) small crushed clove of garlic, and since I didn't have goat cheese like Gordo suggested, I used some feta. I used *too* much feta, but it was still..........phenomenal. I could not believe such flavor came from such sad broccoli and water. Even when I got to the end, and it was cold and had too much feta flavor, I kept scooping up little tastes, because the broccoli flavor was so vibrant. Wow. The dregs (that had too much feta *mental note, light hand on the feta*) got spooned over the dogs' dinners, and they loved it too. All 3 of us almost ate the paint off the bowls. Thank you RaRoOb for sharing this. I'd have never believed it was so amazing. I'd have paid big bucks for this soup in a restaurant. BIG bucks, and been happy. OK. Ya got me. I'll do it. Watched the video. Lovely. The man can be enchanting.

Twice DH and I have been to a Chinese New Year at the home of a friend who is married to a Chinese man originally from Hong Kong. Besides all kinds of candies in red containers, the dinner was multi-coursed, with one dish being removed for another. I seem to recall: Lion Head meatballs, some kind of spare ribs, an entire fish (you are supposed to serve it with head, tail, etc),rice...can't recall the other dishes, only that there were several. Dessert was Eight Treasure Glutinous Rice Cake. All in all, it was an incredible feast.

Why is it better? Can you please tell me?

Ditto for me on the soft boiled eggs and add to that head cheese and almost everything else with jellied meat of any kind.

Question from a pork newbie: What exactly does one use pork stock for which isn't exotic to your average unsophisticated cook? For instance, I've never heard of tonkotsu soup before. Thanks.

My plus two have decided not to come.

Thanks. The produce manager in the most cosmopolitan grocery store in Peterpatch says he can't get them this year. Oh well...

I could find no other incident of "toyomansi" searching eGullet except yours. Could you please tell me where prasantrin wrote of this ingredient and where you were able to find it? A friend has two Calamansi trees and we have made marmalade from the fruit and this toyomansi sounds very interesting. Thanks.

Fifty-one years ago we ate lamb because it was the cheapest meat on the market that I could buy. And chicken wings were given away free. How things have changed!

Thanks Elsie. We have a Farm Boy here and I'll look there on Tuesday. Just fetched the flyer out of the recycling and there's no Seville Oranges in Peterpatch I guess. I'll still check.

Sometimes we get Seville oranges in Peterpatch. Sometimes we don't. Last year there were none. Has anyone seen them yet in Ontario? Where, please?

If you're new to achiote, definitely try the puerco pibil recipe from the movie One Upon a time in Mexico. It's easily found on YouTube and is shown being made by the director whose name escapes me. Absolutely fantastic dish and really opened my eyes to mexican cuisine. Thank you, Crouton, for that tip. Just loved the video. What a hoot! Will try making the achiote past next and using it for the dish. I follow the recipe verbatim except I brown the pork in a Dutch oven first and use that as my cooking vessel... And I don't bother with the banana leaves. Everyone I serve it to has most likely never tasted anything quite like it and raves... The leftovers make great filling for tacos. Right. Forgot to add that I was intending to use lime juice and forgo the banana leaves. No idea of where one would get banana leaves where I live which is in the far frozen north in the middle of nowhere basically.

If you're new to achiote, definitely try the puerco pibil recipe from the movie One Upon a time in Mexico. It's easily found on YouTube and is shown being made by the director whose name escapes me. Absolutely fantastic dish and really opened my eyes to mexican cuisine. Thank you, Crouton, for that tip. Just loved the video. What a hoot! Will try making the achiote past next and using it for the dish.

Yesterday was a first for me, using achiote paste in making Mexican Rice. Not exciting, but new and very nice.

I just might get one on your say so, Elsie.

Yes

Some of the above products are either a lot of work to make or nearly impossible to duplicate, but Ice Magic takes about 4 minutes to make and must be cheaper to make...although I have never purchased it. 100 g or coconut oil melted plus 150 g of melted chocolate, a smidgen of salt and there you have it. I make it all the time. It's a 'kid' sort of thing, but I love it.

I was just getting set to respond to this thread and thought...oh oh, wait, google it first. I could not believe my eyes. Our favorite soup, the one we were both raised on from childhood, the one that spoke volumes of home and hearth to us, the only canned soup we eat, the one we bring to Utah with us every year, was owned by Campbell's. Habitant French Canadian Pea Soup with real smoked ham and lard. No, it's not as good as homemade, but when you are cold, or tired, or can't be bothered, there it is in the familiar yellow can with navy lettering, to be simply heated and eaten. Or as usually happens, DH steps in and adds grated carrot, cooked rice and half a can of chickpeas. Then I add parsley and fresh ground pepper. That's my canned product story.