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Everything posted by fifi
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Microplanes, melon baller, multiple sized strainers, tongs (even used to reach things on high shelves). I don't think I want an egg cuber. I have never seen a cube shaped egg. I don't think I want to. Kinda creeps me out. (The poor Chicken!?)
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I agree. I can think of a couple of examples where a more comprehensive review would have definitely been to the restaurant's advantage... I recall a seafood place on the water that got so-so reviews for dinner (true) but was a knockout place for breakfast on the weekends. Then there was the Indian restaurant that got good reviews for dinner but didn't mention the lunch buffet that turned out to be a "must do". The two experiences were totally different and would probably target a different market.
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foodie 52... Where did you get those coconut ice cream things? I gotta have 'em.
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I added "Barbeque Posole" to the recipe site. My hats off to the site developers. Really cool! Great ideas so far. I am making a list.
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OK... I'll bite. How do you get from split pea soup to 5 pork salad??????
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Barbeque Posole Serves 4 as Main Dish. This is one of those recipes that is definitely more than the sum of its parts. I had something very like this in a restaurant in Queretaro in central Mexico and went nuts. They use up the barbecue from the day before to make this. With my lousy Spanish, I got what I could out of the cook and tried it. This is damn close. Posole as a general term is a Mexican stew made with hominy. This one makes great use of left over barbecue, whatever kind as long as it is good smoked stuff. (Beef brisket and pork are the favorites.) This recipe is really the basics. You can add whatever you like, more and different kinds of peppers or other seasonings to your taste. I suggest you start with the basic and add from there. The amounts are approximate. No need to get too serious about this. I don’t think you can mess it up. It is really amazingly delicious and great on a cold night. 2 T lard, bacon fat or cooking oil 1 large onion, coarsely chopped 4 garlic cloves, chopped 4 c coarsely chopped or shredded barbeque meat 4 c beer, broth or water - enough to cover the meat 2 14 oz cans hominy, drained but not rinsed 2 4.5 oz cans diced green chiles 1 tsp dried Mexican oregano, or more to taste Heat oil and saute onions until they just start to brown. Add garlic and cook for about 2 more minutes. Add the meat. Add liquid until well covered. Simmer slowly for about 30 minutes. Add the hominy and green chiles. Add the oregano, crushing between your fingers. (The cook seemed to think that the oregano was VERY important.) Taste and adjust the salt and pepper. It is important that you don’t add salt and pepper until this point as it depends on what the barbecue has on it. Best to taste first. Simmer about another 15 minutes. Serve with some or all of the following condiments for the diner to add as desired: fresh lime wedges for spritzing, chopped radish, chopped white onion, chopped fresh chiles, shredded cheese, crumbled queso fresca, sour cream, chopped cilantro, shredded cabbage. I have served this over traditional frying pan corn bread (not sweet) and gotten rave reviews. A crisp salad with orange or mango is a great side dish. Keywords: Main Dish, Barbeque, Mexican ( RG241 )
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I haven't thought of chocolate Twinkies in years. I remember they were kinda gross. I wonder if they would be better deep fried?
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Beer. Feed it to him as a snack. Then make him take you out to dinner. You probably deserve it.
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I had never heard of it either. Neither had any of my Mexican food freak friends. And we all go down there a lot. Fried rice! Why didn't I think of that?
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There is a lot of BBQ/Smoking action going on here so I am going to assume that there are going to be lots of big hunks of meat lying around. In my case they don't actually hang around in their original form but I usually have some respectable sized chunk as a leftover. It occurs to me that a bunch of you creative types out there have figured out what to do with leftover BBQ and might like to share. I will share a recipe for posole that I got in Queretero, Mexico some years ago. (Posole is the Mexican tern for hominy or a stew with hominy in it.) It was served at lunch in this wonderful restaurant on the square. It was SO GOOD that I insisted on talking to the chef. Between my bad Spanish and his bad English, I eventually figured out what he did. They make it from the leftover smoked meats from the day before. This is one of those things that turns out to be a lot more than the sum of its parts. I have had friends and family DEMAND that I do some smoking just so I can make this. Simply put... You take 3 or 4 cups of diced or shredded meat, 2 cans of hominy, 2 small cans chopped green chiles, onion, garlic, Mexican oregano and about 4 cups of liquid (I like to use beer) and just stew it up. Technique is simple. Saute the onion and garlic, add the meat and liquid and simmer about 30 minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients and simmer about another 15 minutes. I took a look at the new recipe site and will put it in there like a real recipe if anyone is interested.
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Being illegal in California doesn't surprise me. Here is an amazing factoid... In the Federal Register, Export Administration Regulations, the list of stuff that is restricted for export in an attempt to control proliferation of bad weapons, there is a classification in the middle of the nuclear technology that is called "Horses by Sea". It seems that when the regulation was written, there was a concern that all of those cute horsies and noble wild mustangs would end up on those barbaric European menus. (You can't eat Trigger!) "...by Sea"? Must be legal to FedEx 'em.
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Sriracha, Lea & Perrins, multiple mustards, soy sauce in many versions and flavors, just about anything from Hong Kong Market that I don't know what to do with, Hellmans. Homemade: A Chiapas style ancho chile paste (with ginger, allspice and other stuff) that I got from Zarela Martinez' book. That stuff is good on EVERYTHING. A Tampico style tomatillo sauce that started with Zarela's recipe and evolved via suggestions from friends from Tampico. It is fabulous with fish, shrimp, eggs, just about everything else.
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I forgot about the "we" thing. Once when a waiter used "we", I responded... "Oh! I didn't realize you were dining with us. Won't you sit down?" The look on the guy's face was amazing.
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I adore Ziploc baggies. I use the freezer bags to store leftovers for the freezer. I tend to make lots of "pots of stuff". I have developed a technique for filling them with a portion, squeezing out all of the air, then freezing them flattened on a cookie sheet. You can stack them in freezer baskets like books. Saves a lot of space. And they are cheap if you buy them by the crate at Sam's. Long live Ziplocs! (No other brand need apply.)
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Ohmygod! I did Jalapeno cream biscuits on my Silpat last weekend. Does that mean that my next batch of mollases cookies will have a kick?
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In this day and age, we are dealing with electrons. That bothers me. Like you, I have some annotated and written recipes from my mom and dad that I treasure. How do you treasure electrons?
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Great post, lurker. Now I am really intrigued. Once we get the bad guys outta there (I mean McDonalds) lets get together and COOK! PS: I am convinced that all problems are resolved in the kitchen.
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What a great thread! Reading these posts brings back a lot of memories because I had some of the same experiences with my kids. My girl and boy are 33 and 30 respectively. Both are still single. Great foodies. The boy has always been into cooking. The girl is just now getting interested and is into cooking for friends. Even at this late date I get a real kick out of the frantic phone call... "What is this Texas Caviar missing, Mom? It just doesn't taste right." Some of our best conversations have been in the kitchen. Keep it up guys! It continues to pay off. Some of the most fun I have these days is writing up the family favorite recipes for them to keep and share. Anybody got any good ideas for a nifty way to print and bind them?
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I have a New Braunfels that I have used for about 5 years. It still works really well. No problems controlling temperature or keeping the smoke in. Given the price, about $150, if it got out of wack after 5 years I would still consider it a bargain. Maybe you got an earlier model that was more flimsy. The only complaint I have is that they don't have a drain hole in the smoking chamber to drain off fat, or rainwater that gets in. I intend to fix that when it comes out of storage, I have a house again, and can smoke up a neighborhood. Not being able to go smoke somethin' is killing me.
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I just got on and was about to post the Jiffy recipe. I see Jaymes beat me. I have done that for years. You can add all kinds of stuff to it and it still works. I like green chiles and plenty of cheese. Jiffy corn pudding, coleslaw, thinly sliced red onion with lime juice s&p (sometimes combined with julienne of jicama), jalapenos, tortillas. A friend of mine makes the coleslaw with onion and the dressing is one half mayonaise and one half Wishbone Italian dressing. Delish.
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I have been through this a couple of times with family members. The one tip that I have in addition to the other excellent suggestions so far that I got from a wonderful lady in the hospice... Keeping the flavors separate really helps. In other words, don't throw the potatoes and meat and peas in the blender together. She advised pureeing the meat (roast for example) with some pan juices and broth to the consistency needed. Strain it if necessary. Do the potatoes, the peas, etc. separately. Her opinion was that the main thing missing with the pureed diets was the distinctive flavors of the foods we are accustomed to having as separate entities on our plate. Otherwise, everything is just "soup". Soup is not a bad thing but just not all the time.
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Thanks CathyL! That is the first time I have seen such a good explanation of what goes on in the smoker. Now I know why sometimes it turns out fabulous and sometimes it is just plain good. I can't wait to tell all of my other engineering buddies. I will never again smoke a chunk without the internal probe as well as the external thermometer. I gotta go write this down.
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Yeah... Drunks... But they have been known to be entertaining. Sitting in your generic steak house, the somewhat elderly couple at the next table is obviously not on this planet. At the end of some loud declaration, the wife slides out of her chair, sits on the floor for a minute, then keels over. Througout this episode, the gentleman sits calmly and quietly, buttering his bread. A new family saying is born... In the midst of some crisis or commotion, someone asks what you are doing... "I'm butterin' my bread."
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My own personal larvae learned their manners at home. There was no such thing as "company" or "restaurant" manners. Manners were manners. I started by taking them to "family" restaurants. Then starting at about age 6 they graduated to NICE restaurants. They knew how to behave and were generally a delight. I was careful not to dally as long as I would have if they weren't there. I will never forget the look of horror on their little faces the first time we encountered unruly children. ("Mother... What is WRONG with those people?")
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Loud music. Generally loud room. (Why do some places do that? I hate screaming at my dinner companion.) Waiters reciting the specials of the day. I am there to have a nice relaxing dinner, NOT take a memory quiz. Children. Leave the larvae at home.