Darienne

Thanks Tri2Cook and dcarch for your posts. No, I did not see any paper husky bits on top of the few curled ferns there, just around the bottom. And yes, I might try buying some next time in town and comparing. And I still have the option of finding a local pro to ask. And T2C, thanks for going that extra mile and showing my photo to your local pro. I'll watch that patch carefully. (but not for the next few days...our dog is repairing from 2 ACL injuries and it's just too far to walk there and back each day as of yet)

Interesting issue...cardamom. I am a cardamom nut and always put twice as much as called for in anything desserty I make. And have never tasted anything resembling turpentine. And it's all pre-ground. I have always kept two kinds of cardamom. One I label 'dessert' and the other one 'food'. Are there two kinds of cardamom...or did I make this up?

There aren't a lot of fiddleheads out yet, and those that I saw yesterday are already past that stage. But the ones I did see are growing out of a brown papery husk-like covering and have a deep groove on their interior side. However I still feel really queasy about the entire project. I think I'll fall back to the 'asking an expert to come out to the farm to look' option. Thanks for the help, Tri2Cook. It's a good start.

Roughly speaking...how much money are we talking? In US or Canadian dollars specified please. Oh I mean for the Excalibur.

This is terrific. Congratulations, Kerry. You are one powerhouse of a woman!

Have the camera at the ready for the daily round the farm walk. Will report back. Thanks so much for sharing, Tri2Cook.

Thanks so much for the information, Tri2Cook. I have also now done a bit of Googling, and between that and your information, I should have a better idea. There are a couple of curled fronds which have come up already and tomorrow I'll have a closer look at them. Maybe pick them...take a photo and post it on this thread. Maybe I can find someone locally who will look at them for me. We have this huge patch of ferns, year after year, and I've always been leery of picking them and eating them. ...There's a local naturalist, very knowledgeable, author of books on the local area. He's the man one contacts when something interesting happens locally. I seem to spot unusual things on our farm quite often. Maybe he knows someone near by who might help in this case. That would make me feel much better.

I need to ask a question about fiddle-heads. Every year we have a huge patch of what I would call fiddle-heads on the farm. They grow into huge green ferns later in the season. Are these the ferns which grow from the kind of fiddle-heads that folks eat? Is there such a thing as a non-edible fiddle-head? I'd be afraid to cook and eat them until someone could answer these questions. Thanks.

Cinco de Mayo is here and we had Chiles en Nogada for lunch. The pictures I took were all incredibly fuzzy and so I didn't post one. Sorry. Don't know why. They were delicious and we both enjoyed them muchly. My long-time Picadillo recipe is from Elisabeth Ortiz, The Complete Book of Mexican Cooking. First ppb edition, 1967. It predates my interest in Mexican food...or even cooking for that matter...and I have NO idea of why I bought it way back when. It's absolutely in tatters from age and use. I merge the two Ortiz recipes and I used bananas and apples as the fruit. Oh, and add cocoa just for the heck of it. Two problems remain: - the poblanos were not very strong after blackening under the broiler. Too much heat and ended up partially cooked. Not sure what to do. I have a little propane stove put aside for emergencies. Maybe I could use it in future. Not sure what the objection is to the poblano skin. Doesn't seem all that substantial to me and I ignore it for Chile Verde and Rajas and using Poblanos in salads. - the sauce. I can't do mortar and pestle with these hands and in the food processor the walnuts cannot be ground to a smooth nothing. Little bits remain. Now I don't really care, but it's not satisfactory to serve to guests in this state. What to do. Thanks to all who helped me in this new venture. It really turned out well and I'll do it again.

Funny, just as I was thinking of answering you, I returned to that old thread and found my own response on it. My "Picadillo a la Cabana" (still don't know how to put a tilde on the 'n' when online) which is exactly what I'd make again this time given your answer...which I greatly appreciated. You are definitely my first go-to mentor for things Mexican. And, of course, I always have dried cranberries on hand. So, I'll do just that...soldier on and make the dish. Thanks for the encouragement.

Picking up this thread 11 years later... Chiles en nogada have been mentioned recently in a eG thread: (I still don't know how to post other eG sites) Cinco de Mayo...What will you make?? in Food Traditions & Culture and I said I would make these for the first time on this coming Tuesday. However, I hae ma doots. My recipe comes from Rick Bayless posted by Jaymes. Poblanos imported into Canada are obviously not the prime kind and I have no idea of their growing season. Actually I can't recall if their origins are noted. I have never seen white walnuts for sale and have only the regular kind...these from North Carolina sent to me by an eG chum. We can't buy pears which are local in May. And there are no peaches at any prices. Haven't seen a fresh plantain recently although in all fairness they might be in the stores. I could buy a pomegranate although most of it would go to waste. DH hates them. Question: should I just make something else? BTW, I've never had this dish. Mexican restaurants in Peterborough are pretty much limited to non-pork dishes (no, I'm not kidding) and feature mostly tacos. What to do?

Like a gazillion other adults in North America, I weigh far more than I should. Plus I am now battling a number of ailments, some of basically my own doing and neglect, and others for which I have little or no responsibility...like crippling Spinal Stenosis. (Well, I don't think it's my fault.) But with every extra pound I carry, I suffer x amount of extra pain,...etc, etc. So I am very interested in keeping my weight as low as I possibly can. Which is, as we all know, very, very hard to do, particularly if you love food. Thus I am very interested in your thread. If you can make it both weight helpful and still interesting to eat, I'm for it. We have recently stumbled across the concept of eating reheated rice and other grains and carb-laden foods. As I understand it: cook it with some coconut oil, let it cool for a period, reheat it and eat it, and presto chango, it is transformed into a lesser caloric-laden dish. Love it. Are you intending to work that concept into your re-formulating of recipes?

Not really living in a tropical area...the snow is just gone. I've never seen frozen coconut in a grocery store, but then I'll ask in my Asian grocery next time I'm in. I have purchased a lot of coconuts in my life and have had only 2 or maybe 3 be bad. Which might be dumb luck. I would expect to have better luck in Kensington Market in Toronto where there would be markets which must keep produce fresh or lost customers. It's a great place to shop. If you want to drive to Toronto which we no longer want to do. Unless we have to.

And speaking of making your own coconut milk/cream...cracked open my coconut yesterday morning. It was rotten. So much for that effort.

Congratulations, radtek. But then we in East Central Ontario are just grateful that the snow is finally gone.

Good idea, Smithy, although the whole thing is so new to me that I cannot see myself starting the thread. Put off buying a rice cooker for years...DH did NOT want one, seeing as he normally cooked the rice, his way!!...but wouldn't eat brown rice. Gave in, bought one...for peanuts I might add...and the rest as they say....

Do get yourself a rice cooker...advised by a very amateur cook (me). You'll never look back. I finally got one last year. And now I can get DH to eat brown rice at last.

Can you make some kind of cold salad using couscous? I have a few salads made with cold cooked quinoa. I don't like cold rice or pasta salads, but many folks do. Perhaps couscous can work this way also.

Just finishing up my report. The curry I made was Panang Curry with Beef from ThempleofThai.com (thanks for the site, djyee) Left out a few of the finishing bits like the big red chili sliced (but unidentified as to proper name or type and probably not available in Peterborough anyway) and the fact that I used shredded pork instead of sliced which made the final dish look more like a dog's dinner than a proper meal. I still have a fresh coconut to make milk from and three containers of red, yellow and green curry from Arroy-D to try next, plus some fried chicken pieces now in the freezer for the next Thai curry.

Lunch is over. Two photos to post. The vegetables are: Chinese eggplant, snow peas and broccoli with coconut rice. The curry looks as it does because it's made from shredded pork instead of sliced pork. Also plating is not something I can do. The meal was delicious...though I have nothing to compare it with. Perhaps the next step is to eat at a reputable Thai restaurant. I think there is one in Peterborough...although, yes, my favorite out-of-home meal is fish and chips at a local 60s sort of dive. Next I need to freeze (?) all the leftover coriander, Thai basil, etc. if possible. Thanks for all the help.

Deryn is correct...except that I would have packed those extra pounds around my middle for sure. All that wonderful chocolate for one thing...

We have a pretty good Asian grocery in Peterborough, ON, although I don't think they carry fresh galangal...I bought fresh-frozen...at least not constantly. (They also have frozen Durian which I have yet to try. They came here 40 years ago and began their business in a hole in the wall when it was not a sure thing at all and I simply won't patronize any of the recent comers.) Also...how many friends can you tell this one to? Yesterday I pulled a pork 'butt' out of the freezer, defrosted it and slow cooked it for today's curry. It looked funny to me, but I thought nothing of it. Even while it was cooking...I thought strange looking butt. My brain was out of gear as it increasingly is I fear. Began to shred it and wondered where all the rib bones were coming from. Duh. It was a package of frozen spare ribs. So now we have spare rib pork for the curry. :raz:

Thanks for all the encouragement, Deryn. I do hope it will be fine. Of course, given the fact that I have no idea of what it should taste like.... :smile:

My paste is made and ready for tomorrow. Yep. Not likely to be repeated too often. As noted above...Considering that I cannot pound anything anymore in a pestle and it ended up being finished in a Bullet. I wonder how many Bullets have been used for Thai curry paste? So we is ready....

All grist to the mill, so to speak.