pastameshugana

Ha! Actually I'm a bad egg-cooker. I need to learn how to poach/etc. All I do is put them in a non-stick pan with olive oil or butter, then splash a little water on the exposed part of the pan and cover it. The water steams them from the top while the bottom cooks so I don't have to flip them. I would imagine there has to be a better way...

I've been documenting this over on my food blog here, but here's a couple of breakfasts that I've truly enjoyed: Eggs on Toast with portobello, garlic, onion, tomato and Gruyère: Huevos Rancheros with anaheim, hatch and serrano: I think eggs on toast and huevos rancheros are both variations of the same illness.

Top of the morning. Here's today's breakfast, inspired by kayb! The last time I made huevos rancheros was in India, and only my second son (then almost 6) would eat them with me. He's a chili head to the core. It was almost a test of manhood for him, and he refused to have anything to drink till he was done! Now, my 'Indian' rancheros were deadly, featuring Guntur chillies and what the markets called 'green chili' - which were a lot like serranos. Todays was a little less intense. Ingredients on the cutting board (I love my sani-tuff): Hard stuff being sauteed: Tortillas ready for the eggs: Today it was me and my chili-headed second son and Mrs. Meshugana. The others aren't interested and would rather have corn flakes... Posing for the paparazzi: Ta-Da! For this dish, after softening the onion, garlic and chillies (Serrano and Anaheim), I added 1/2 can of Hatch diced, plus one full can of El Pato hot tomato sauce. (This stuff is the bomb. Go right now and buy some. Heaven in a 59 cent can!) Tossed in the tomatoes and let it all stew while frying the eggs. As I mentioned earlier, I've got a small appetite, so no sides. Don't want to waste precious stomach real estate with silly sides!

Well, headed off to bed, so I thought I'd share a meal that we had on the road last week. On our way to Lubbock, TX (the 'city' in these parts), we stopped in Seminole, TX to eat. I was really craving the 'Super Pollo', which has a 12 foot chicken smoker out front, but alas, they were closed for the holiday (didn't anyone tell them holidays are for people, not restaurants?!). Anyhoo.... We ended up at a little place called Daily Burgers: ...which as you can see by the window signs, has quite a variety of dishes. I ordered corn dogs for the little people, which I was informed were 'hand made', which I deciphered as 'hand battered', and it's the first time in my life I've been impressed by a corn dog: Is that thing beautiful, or what? The batter was so rich and buttery, and it was a quality dog inside to boot. As they would say in Bangalore: Pukka! (Which I am informed means 'of high quality or reputation' - If, in fact, I've been translation-bombed and it actually means your father smelt of elderberry, then my sincerest apologies (and there go the parentheses again)). Then a green chili burger with everything for Mrs. Meshugana: Which was wonderful except for the meat being too small for the bun. And when I asked the employee what they were famous for, she recommended the home made Pirogies, stuffed with home made cottage cheese and grilled: I was very surprised by these, and enjoyed them enough that I would make the 30 minute drive for them alone (and cheap gas in Texas). They were served with a little piece of ham and some sort of gravy that tasted a bit like a thin, milky cheese sauce. Who knows what it was, but it was very tasty. Sweet Dreams! (if you're in the Western Hemisphere), Good Morning! (to the Eastern) - be back in a few hours!

Heidi, I did get my fill while chopping! I told my wife that if you could bottle the flavor of crispy pork fat fresh off the grill, you'd make a million dollars. I believe they call them pecan farms around here. We've got two pecan trees but it's not the right season or else I'd do something with them! Stopping for a quick bite at a 'country' buffet called ranchers after band practice, then home to plan huevos rancheros (you inspired me!). From iPhone using Tapatalk

Well, the smoked pork ribs are done - and what a treat! Here they are after resting: They were smoked with heat on for 3.5 hours, the coolest I could keep my BBQ was just south of 200 degrees by keeping only the burner under the chips on. When the meat hit 145 degrees I turned the heat off and let the pile of wood chips smoke themselves out for another hour. Here they are after I've given myself a blister chopping them all for sandwiches: The flavor is just absolutely terrific. The smoke is super subtle, probably because of the short time. I'd like to find a way to stretch that time out to get more 'smokiness'. The sad part is we have band practice tonight, so I have to run and leave this pile of meat. Maybe we'll grab fast food tonight and eat this tomorrow, or we'll eat it late tonight.

Nickrey - We spent much very enjoyable time in Melbourne when we lived in India. Our visa required us to leave the country every 6 months, so we alternated between Melbourne and Kuala Lumpur. We've got some old friends in Footscray, so spent most of our time there, but also made it around in the city (absolutely fell in love with Queen Vic market), Dandenong and several other suburbs. We actually loved it so much we'd like to live there if life would permit. Unfortunately, we never made it to Sydney or Perth. We were scheduled to visit Perth (where some of my family is from, in a roundabout sort of way) when plans changed and we headed from India to the US.

Shelby - I believe, if I'm not mistaken, that it's simply our region. We're literally right on the Texas border (5 minutes from my house), and Hatch is several hours west. In fact, most of the 'chili' places I've enjoyed have been much further west than Hobbs.

Darienne - I love to cook Mexican! This week I'll certainly be making some for some friends. I haven't decided exactly what, yet, but I'll at least be making discada once.

So what's growing out there? Peter, the big commercial farms are cotton and peanuts, with pecans favoring large as well. I'm not sure about the smaller, private farms.

Darienne, I'm sure it's changed a bit since then, especially Carlsbad. Hopefully we'll make it down there for lunch this week to show you my 'favorite BBQ in New Mexico'. We're about an hour up the road in Hobbs, which is (if you can believe it), flatter and dryer than even Carlsbad.

Update on the smoking process: My hickory woodchips are going much faster than I had bargained. For some harebrained reason I obeyed the package instructions and didn't soak (or even wet) the chips. So, about two lbs later, I'm soaking the remaining ones to make them last. Here's about 1hr into the process. You can see I abandoned the dish I had chips in and put them right on the grill. This 'infrared' grill has a solid bottom, so no worries about them falling on the burners: Two and a half hours into smoking, the meat temperature is about 130, and looking beautiful. I snagged a piece of the fat that fell off and it was heaven. The whole neighborhood smells like my dinner! I'll post results when I'm done! And here's a question: To soak or not to soak? Other than the life-span of the wood, is there another reason pro/con?

Heidi - I get so many strange looks because my speech has become so mixed over the years. Traveling and living overseas, plus having lots of family from all corners of the globe makes our 'little' (4 mini-meshugana's and one on the way, plus (obviously) Mrs. Meshugana) family stand out in this small town. Every time I say 'no worries' I have to rephrase for the poor confused soul... As for the nutella - I know I've eaten it but it's been in the distant past, so I can't honestly recall the flavor. I will say, however, that the brown color was trying to convince my brain that it was Vegemite (which I adore), even though it certainly tastes nothing like it! (Edited to add: If there was a parentheses quota, this post would certainly exceed it. Sorry, I'm a parenthetical speaker. Look, here comes another one! --> )

Working on lunch: Trying my hand at smoking (first time) on a way too small grill for smoking. This was a spur of the moment meal, I found some frozen pork ribs in the ice box last night, and took them out to thaw. Here they are arranged to have the most surface area exposed to the smoke (using fancy skewers as props!): Smoking with hickory: The internal temp (of the grill) is a little above 200, so hopefully they won't 'bake' too fast and have time to smoke. So far they've only been treated with Cavender's greek seasoning (my favorite). We'll see how they turn out...

Just a quick update - I forgot to include Sunday's breakfast, which was simple and tasty. One of the lovely markets we hit last week (you'll hear about & see it soon) had a little display with some in-house made 'Chocolate Peanut-Butter'. Hold up, wait a minute. Chocolate peanut butter? What is this beautiful thing and WHY have I not heard of it before?! C'mon. Chocolate and PB are one of the god-given flavor combinations that make the world go 'round, and here in one jar? Bhuwhahahahaaa! So, with Sunday's coffee, I also had some toast layered with this goodness. Here's a (not so great) pic, but it sure tasted great. Now I don't have to hide my breakfast from my wife when I put chocolate syrup on my PB toast.

So, on the heals of that literary quest (sorry for the length!), here's Monday's Brekkie with Sundays coffee: My first bag of Peets in a while (Italian Roast): Hand ground in the press: (Notice the Las Vegas mug? I try to collect mugs from every place I visit (and my passport is full, so that's quite a few), hopefully you'll see some more of them this week) And one of the greatest breakfast inventions ever: Eggs on Toast My first EOT was in Footscray, Melbourne at a little cafe, and it was a revelation. My version has garlic, onion and portobello lightly sauteed in olive oil. Add chopped roma's after you turn the heat off so they stay sweet (a nice counterpoint to the heavy aromatics). Toss with freshly ground pepper & sea salt and topp with chopped Gruyere. My mouth is happy! Warning: NSFW Egg Porn picture following... ... Doesn't it bring a tear to your eye? Be back later!

Hello eGulleteers, and welcome to my first ever food blog. First, a little bit about me and where my eating & cooking are inspired from: I grew up in the Southwest (AZ), and after marriage spent a few years in Vegas, then off to Bangalore, India for a couple years, and now live in the far southeast part of New Mexico, right on the Texas border. Here's a picture from about five minutes down the road: Now, growing up the way I did (with a Jewish/Italian father) in the land of great Mexican food (imagine those meal combos!), and living in Vegas and India, my family and I have developed a taste (addiction?) for flavors that reach out and grab you. I have a naturally small appetite, so I really don't want to put anything in my mouth that doesn't taste amazing. When we lived in India, I really began to enjoy cooking. Partly it was the amazingly cheap and incredibly fresh ingredients available, and partly it was the desire to be able to replicate the amazing food of Bangalore when we finally moved back home. That's also when I discovered eGullet. So - all that to say this: I'm depressed. Seriously. I live in a town that has more than a hundred 'Mexican' restaurants, but in which black pepper is considered spicy. I live in New Mexico, yet in a mysterious vortex that doesn't have a strong green chilly culture. Oi Vey! I live in the south (land of sweet tea) but in a city with not one single barbecue joint. Am I being punished? This is the part of the country in which if you order a 'latte' people look at you funny and assume you're a 'foreigner' or of dubious morality. Don't get me wrong, there's some good food here, but very little of it is at a restaurant. We've got some friends that are amazing cooks, and I've been learning some new techniques & tools, but other than that, it's a food desert here. See the picture of the farm above? We're surrounded by them, but there's not a single farmers market here. So - this week you're going to follow me around as I try (desperately) to tickle my palate with the limited supplies available, and as I search high and low for something new and interesting. Full Disclosure: Some of these meals (and shopping) are a week old, because we were traveling and my schedule is a bit hectic, so if you see me post two dinners in one day, it's not because I'm time-zone hopping, but compressing two weeks of eating into one. Hope you enjoy the ride!

Wow - that sounds amazing - I can imagine some fascinating winter desserts... Thanks so much for sharing your week - I had a blast!

Over in FG's Kitchenaid confessions thread, peterm2 mentioned the beater/scraper attachments for the KA mixers: I love this idea, and popped over to Amazon to look for one. Which one do you use/recommend? The kitchenaid brand has complaints of flinging ingredients: KitchenAid Flex Edge Beater But the Metro line has complaints of breakage... Metro Then there's the even fancier looking 'sideswipe' blades with complaints of being hard to clean: SideSwipe I know there's no perfect product, but steer me in the right direction! Thanks in advance...

Oi - forget the kit mix - here's my absolute favorite recipe for the meat: 1lb Ground Beef or so (about 1/2kg) 1 Large Red Onion, finely minced 1 Large handful of garlic, finely minced 1 Large handful of cilantro leaves picked and chopped, stalks finely chopped 1 Medium handful of fresh curry leaves, chopped 1/2 Can green chillies 1 Medium serrano chili Salt/Pepper/Cumin/Red Chilli Powder Toss the onion/garlic in butter before adding the beef, when the beef is about 1/2 done, add the cilantro and curry leaves. Fresh curry leaves will add the most amazing smoky flavor to it, and you'll be convinced it's the way it was meant to be! My mom's technique for the tortillas was to stuff the (corn) tortillas with the filling, and fry it complete like that. It's a lot of work but sure comes out nice.

Food pods?!? What is this wonderful atrocity?! How is it that I've never heard of such a thing, and doubly so: Why on earth aren't there any near me?! I demand answers! A fascinating idea: Are they squatting or do they usually get permits? I'd imagine each truck has it's own permit, but what about the whole?

This wins the "Quotable Quote of the Day" Award, and gives me some ideas for 'encouraging' my 4 (soon to be 5) short people.

Wow - this is a tough one. I jumped right on it thinking I know what I would write, but now after three (deleted) versions, I can't decide what my last meal would be! One option is Indian. After living 2.5 years in India I crave it like a junkie. Either tear your face off Andhra style at Nandhini's or the Mughlai dishes at 'A Taste of Rampur'. But there was also that dish of baby clams with angel hair at Lygon st. in Melbourne... That one night the portobello/pancetta/romano stuffed pork chops came out perfect, and the first time I nailed spaghetti carbonara would be up there. It's fascinating how emotional food is. Recalling some of these meals is certainly a transportive experience! Some of the things I would envision as ideal 'last meals' aren't even very good food, just good experiences. Some of the nights we've stayed out way too late with good friends drinking too much coffee would be a great way to 'go out'. In that vein, one night at a little rooftop cafe in B'lore with good friends drinking personal pots of French press coffee, while two elderly Indian men played covers of classics like 'Layla'. One backyard 'barbeque' making decadent discada with several families over is certainly another highlight. Making some off the cuff alfredo at a friends house while he grilled an entire (10lb) filet on his 10th floor balcony after a long, lazy day spent swimming with all the kids is another deep-rooted memory. After a few years of culinary adventuring, it's interesting to me, looking back, how much the contents of the meals have faded and the memories of the companionship have not. I would have to say, any meal reasonably well-executed, even if it was just a burger on a grill would suffice for a 'last meal on earth'. The key would be sharing it with the right people, and making it memorable. The REAL question, is what are you going to eat the morning of the 22nd? Now that the world has NOT ended, what's your first meal going to be?

I don't have a recipe, but Memphis Championship BBQ in Vegas sells their 'Magic Dust' that I've used for years, it's my go-to dry rub for all kinds of meat & veggies. http://memphis-bbq.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=1&osCsid=qjt3soa2kha3edbmdug2co2265

For what it's worth, our office brews some nasty Folgers dreck from the huge cans, and I'll add a tsp to each pot (something I picked up from my Grandfather about 'fixing' bad coffee). No one has said anything except when I forgot to add it, and they all complained. YMMV...