pastameshugana

There are a few places in San Luis, Mexico that marlin tacos with cheese are a specialty. Very nice.

This looks ridiculously good. Food I'd be willing to get fat for. By 'hot honey' are you talking temperature or is it chili-infused? Both sound amazing.

Blake's is an institution around here. People who leave NM will come back just to get one. A friend in town from Tennessee this week is lamenting that he has to leave Blake's again. And rumor has it that one of our 'alumni' living in Rochester, NY will have her parents bring her green chile burgers on the plane when they go to visit.

After thoroughly enjoying tacos al pastor across Mexico (my favorite was in a family owned place in Mexico City - in a pretty bad part of town), and all things gyro, I think that the vertical rotisserie has a number of things going for it. And not the least of which is the fact that on a BIG one, that meat is on that skewer for a long time - and all the intermingling of juices, bacteria, and who-knows-what-else conspires together to make the flavor what it is. All that to say I'm tempted by the little Amazon unit, but it would be missing that 'fungal je nais se quois'. As for tacos al pastor, #2 on my list is a little place in Nogales Mexico that is an open air car wash by day (about 7 bays) and restaurant by night. They tie up the hoses and pull tables out. Truly an incredible meal - it's become an annual tradition.

These last couple of dishes look amazing. Melty cheese, buttery bread, bacon - what's not to love?

Well, as I was scrolling through catching up on this thread, my cat who is on my lap kept trying to bite my iPad. I think that means he approves of your cooking! Last night Mrs M made tomato veggie soup (roasted all the veg and blended) with open faced grilled cheese. This was an outstanding meal for the creeping chill that’s in the evening air around these parts.

This is a thing of beauty.

Well my baking adventures have been getting better, so I ended up with these basic french loaves Tuesday: One went to son & DIL, one seemed to have just vanished ? too much 'testing' I presume, and the other turned into toast and sandwiches: And last week while in Amarillo, TX, I had one of the best bowls of Pho since I was in Ho Chi Minh in February, with oxtail: This was really good, very aromatic, the oxtail was cooked perfect, each little 'nub' of meat popped out clean, and I ate far too much.

If that doesn't describe parenting then I don't know what does. I always tell people "Who needs TV when you've got kids?"

Or the tacos fresco...

So last night I was working on another sourdough (baking it often to try to improve it) and it was looking good, and in final proof, when I heard hair-raising screams outside and my youngest came through the front door yelling "dad come quick!"... So, daughter #2 fell off a little ledge, about 4 feet, into a big nasty patch of cactus, hitting it with sufficient force to drop her onto her bottom and then forward onto her arms... And of course in summer kids are never dressed appropriately to handle stuff like this. I had to cut her clothes off and carry her back to the house, and it took 3 of us 2 hours to get the 'big' needles out. A long soak and ministrations from mom-meshugana and she's doing much better today, thankfully. Parts of her looked like she had fur they were so thick. Needless to say, the sourdough proof was forgotten about, and it collapsed. But after the drama I rediscovered it and tossed it in the oven anyway, and it turned into a ridiculously good french toast in my wife's hands. She paired it with a spinach omelette, and blueberry syrup that the (formerly poky) daughter made a couple days ago.

I would personally prefer door #2) the thicker / curry-like consistency. That'll give you a little more adhesion to your meat.

This looks spectacular.

Mrs. Meshugana marinated some good looking tri-tip today, but it slipped my mind until late in the game. I wanted a long, slow cook but only had an hour. So, one hour in a 170f oven, then a quick sear on the grill: Turned out MUCH better than I was expecting. My lovely wife made corn and mash, and daughter #1 made an arugula salad with walnuts, blueberries, feta, dill and some other things. She's a bit of a virtuoso in all things salad - and it always works way better than it should.

This looks amazing - is that your own recipe or ??

I baked my first sourdough today using 'Reinhard', my new pet starter. It's an organic rye and water, I've been feeding for about a week. The flavor of the bread was great, but it was a little more dense than I'd prefer. I think it's because I ended up with too much dough and tried to force it into three baguettes, rather than holding some back - so I didn't get enough stretch on my shaping and ended up with HEAVY loaves. Mr's M made a breakfast hash with veggies and sausage, egg and avocado on top. This certainly hit the spot! Paper plates when all the kids are home. It might not be environmentally friendly, but it's certainly clean up friendly.

This is something worth breaking a diet for.

We installed this off brand one I got at amazon five years ago. Not a blip or a glitch. The high fan setting is noticeable but not obnoxious, and it’s powerful enough to conquer frying bacon or searing steaks.

Lol. I've got a 90yo widowed grandfather, and when any home nurses come around we all secretly cringe/pray/hope he behaves.

In February I had to make a quick business trip to Ho Chi Minh City (got out just before Covid shut everything down). In the airline lounge in Seoul, this was better than anything they were cooking: Then I made a stop at the grocery store to fill up the empty space in my suitcase with: Why buy souvenirs when you can buy cheap noodles? One of my favorites was this one: I’ve noticed that Costco has started carrying a cup noodle type Pho variant that is actually made in Vietnam. Of course nothing like Pho, but it’s a nice quick bite. My kids love it.

An absolutely beautiful scone! What recipe do you use?

Too funny.

My family and I lived in India, and our favorite pastime was buying masses of books at the western mall. They were dirt cheap, so we bought literally hundreds. Somehow I got onto a roll reading about food, and Stevens book Turning the Tables ended up in the pile. The bit about learning to dice an onion captured me, and I’ve been here since.

There’s a hotel in San Luis RC, Mexico that features green chile beef tongue stew in their breakfast buffet, and it is probably the only thing worth recommending the hotel for.

Hear, hear!