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In The Mexican Gourmet by Maria Dolores Torres Yzabal there is a very interesting and unusual take on the average guacamole, Guacamole Guanajuato Style (Guacamole Guanajuatense). The recipe includes the usual suspects plus guava, cucumber and peaches and garnished w/ pomegranate seeds. The recipe was originally taken from a regional cookbook (La Cocina Regional de Mexico) published by a volunteer group in Mexico. You can find the recipe here - pretty dang good: click here for Guacamole Guanajuatense

Potatoes with Poblanos (Papas con Rajas) Serves 4 as Side. This is a nice side dish w/ any Mexican or Latin flavored meal. Cut the potatoes as you would like, Myself I prefer slices about 1/4-1/3" thick. 12 oz potato (preferably new reds), sliced salt 4 cloves garlic 4 poblanos (charred, peeled, seeds/veins removed), roughly chopped 3 T oil 4 oz cheese (preferably Oaxacan - any mild, melting cheese will do) Cover potatoes with water, salt the water as you normally would when cooking potatoes (I use about a hefty teaspoon). Cook the potatoes over medium heat until almost done, about 10 minutes. Drain, reserve a cup of the cooking water. Blend the reserved cup of cooking water, garlic and chiles until well blended - there should still be some texture, don't puree. Heat oil in a large skillet until hot, dump the sauce in the hot oil and fry over med/high heat for 5-7 minutes. Add the potatoes to the sauce and cook on low until the potatoes are well flavored with the sauce, 7-9 minutes. Stir in the cheese and continue to heat through to melt the cheese. Keywords: Side, Easy, Potatoes, Vegetables, Mexican ( RG379 )

Enchilada Sauce Serves 12. This is a standard, all-purpose, workhorse enchilada sauce. It can be tweaked real easily w/ mexican oregano, epazote, more chiles or you can sub a couple different dried chille for a coupl of the anchos...but I really like it just the way it is. Nice simple chile sauce. If you find it is too hoat increase the amount of milk or decrease the chiles - you will likely have to reduce it more to get the proper consistency. NOTE: The most important step here is frying the sauce - the oil should be quite hot when you add the sauce and should spatter and spit and sputter quite a bit. If it doesn't your oil isn't hot enough. This will also splatter all over your stovetop, so if you'd prefer it can easily be done in a deeper pot instead of a skillet. 5 anchos - seeded, stemmed and deveined 2 c whole milk 2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped 2 T oil 1 T sugar salt Cover the chiles with hot water and soak for 15 minutes. Pour off the water, tear the chiles into several pieces and throw in a blender. Blend the chiles with the garlic and milk until very smooth. Heat oil in a large skillet until very hot (see NOTE above), dump the sauce in the hot oil and fry over med/high heat for a few minutes - add the sugar and a pinch of salt. Continue to fry over med/high heat until thickened and somewhat reduced, about 10 minutes or so. Keywords: Easy, Sauce, Mexican, Hot and Spicy ( RG378 )

Actually that item qualifies for their "Super Saver" free shipping deal, so it's $27.99 - - done and done. Also, if you spend $99 or over in their Kitchen & Housewares dept they'll send you a $20 gift certificate for future orders. Really not a bad deal.

The dish Posole is said to have originated in Guerrero (Posole Blanco and Posole Verde) and a more commonly seen version (Posole Rojo) was said to have originated in Jalisco. The default condiments served with Posole would be: cabbage or lettuce, lime, and onions. In Michoacan they also serve dried oregano. In Guerrero, Posole Verde can be served with avocado and chicarron are as well as the oregano. Frequently you may also bolillos, cilantro or sometimes chiles (in those places that are so slack as to not have chiles on the table). You mention tortilla chips - that I've not seen...and it may be a compromise for the cabbage which is there as a textural component. Basically it comes down to whatever you like, there are no specific rules - but really, cabbage, lime and onion should be there...anything else can be included to satisfy tradition, personal taste or regional demand. As for making Posole, if you have the raw version you should be slaking it, removing the pedicel and cooking the corn per your recipes directions. If you were asking if there were other things to do with posole - I've also seen it included in turkey caldos and chicken guisados and also saw an interesting recipe for a side dish that was posole, corn and rajas - the posole was cooked in a bit of stock until the stock reduced and then the corn and rajas added. there were other threads disussing posole here: click me for 'Why is Liza's posole like gravel'? click here to find out how Posole took over the 'Chicken Soups of the World' thread edit: added info re history/versions

You can get a lot of info on things to do in Oaxaca including more info on some of these and other restaurants as well as the cooking classes at El Naranjo here: click for OaxacaOaxaca.com

marktynernyc, thanks for the report - - this is definitely a welcome addition to the Mexico forum!

That will usually be the case as quite frequently the 'average' person will not have the correct answer. That would be your best resource for leads. That's also a sure-fire way to de-cloak a lurker who would otherwise not post, especially if the thread requesting suggestions has little traffic.

Edna Lewis and Scott Peacock have a new book coming out this month which may be worth looking into. Click the egullet-friendly link below for more info: The Gift of Southern Cooking: Recipes and Revelations from Two Great Southern Cooks

Wow. Down South it's $44.97. For which one, the Smoke n Grill or the Deluxe Charcoal Smoker?

Word... <50 is a great price for that model. The 'cheap' one I bought new about 8 years ago for $35+ - you can get a step up for just a little more (and I'm talkin' 1990's prices!!!). The second one I got was not paid for in cash but was given to me by a co-worker who had to work 5 years to 'earn' it as a 'gift'. They (Lowe's) have just as competitive prices on some other grills/smokers as well...definitely a resource to keep in mind. I'd have to look through it again, but it seemed to me that the instructions for modding the hardware was aimed at the cheaper model - - but I think most of it would apply to the other. Damn...just cook some meat already!!

Get one of 'em...that's a damn good price.

Really? I could swear it's the one they have at Lowe's for $45. Maybe I'll stop in there and copy down the details tomorrow. Still, I think as long as it's functional it might be a good way for me to go for this year... and if I get two years of use out of it, all the better. .... Yeah, the one pictured above is slightly larger and the bottom, judging only from what I can see, appears to be more air tight. --then again, maybe they just have a helluva deal at Lowe's The cheaper one is here (they do look similar):Click for Brinkmann Smoke n Grill I have this one (two actually)...it's fine. I don't use it much for smoking because with my first few attempts I couldn't get down how to keep the temp consistent w/o a lot of attention so kinda gave up. Grill on it a lot, though.

That comes in black, too. That's the $80+ model.

M Stern: See Roadfood link below: click here for O.T. Hodge review

I'm hoping for a repeat. In my time zone (CST) it was pre-empted 20 min into the show...very disappointing.

Smug smoked corned beef brisket eating bastards

First and foremost The Essential Cuisines of Mexico - released in 2000 this single volume combines her first three books: The Cuisines of Mexico, The Tortilla Book, and Mexican Regional Cooking. Updated and revised w/ some new recipes this is a great collection and provides a nice basis for those seeking an introduction to her work. I hate the layout and design of the book, though. Second, personally I would pick My Mexico: A Culinary Odyssey With More Than 300 Recipes. As much travelogue as cookbook I enjoy this quite a bit for all the stories/anecdotes. This has some very unique recipes I've not seen elsewhere and also does not dwell much on any of the basics, so is more suited for someone (to cook from at least) with at least some knowledge of the basic fundamentals of Mexican cuisine. If not My Mexico, then I would go for The Art of Mexican Cooking. On a side note, another excellent book that will provide you a solid repertoire of dishes is 1,000 Mexican Recipes by Marge Poore. Judging simply from the name I was expecting this to be more of a Better Homes and Garden type of thing, but found the quality (as well as the crazy stupid quantity) of the contents of this book excellent. Highly recommended.

I had my first helping of klink's links last night. I gave a link a short dunk in boiling water to warm through and then browned it off in a pan. Nicely aromatic, good browning and the bit of fat left in the pan made me wish I would have had some potatoes on hand to recreate the aforementioned hash a la Shaw. To allow the sausage to be the focus, I ate this unadorned, sliced on a bias...on the side a salad and some pickled cherry bomb peppers. The sausage is very, very good. Nice texture and mouthfeel - coarse but without any notable gristle or tough 'chunks'. Fat content left the meat suitably moist. It had a nicely assertive garlicky kick on the tongue. The smoking hand was applied adeptly - a nice undercurrent of smokiness that compliments instead of obscures the meat, a good pork flavor w/ a little richness added by the beef. I did not notice any problems with it crumbling as others had - in fact each individual slice held quite well. The pepper level was fine - but I do have a very high tolerance. As a personal preference I might cut back a little on the garlic, though - or maybe use roasted garlic (would it still be kielbasa?) - it didn't seem overly strong while in the mouth - but there was a bit of a 'raw' garlic aftertaste...this would not be as notable if I were using it in a dish as opposed to naked...maybe I'll try the recipe for Easter Soup. Great stuff, klink - thanks for sharing! In the future you'll have to try some chorizo! john

I've seen recipes using it in just about anything: any tortilla antojito, crepas, budin, omeletes, soups, rice, rellenos...you name it, anyplace you can use a mushroom. Some larger cities will have it in their farmer's markets - have you tried the Hispanic markets there? You can always call Bayless and see where he gets his. I also know you can get it canned...if not from a local grocer at least online (under alternate spelling 'Cuitlacoche': click here for The CMC Company - 'Hard To Find Ingredients for the Serious Cook' I'd read somewhere that huitlacoche translates roughly as "shit of the gods" from the original Nahuatl...anyone have any insight on that?

Cool, since I'm renting it this weekend I'll just forget about that part.

You may need to tinker w/ the seasonings some. I think typically dried herbs/spices are going to lose some of their power over longer cooking, so you can increase or add near the end of cooking. Fresh herbs/spices can increase in intensity with the longer cooking, so you can decrease or add near the end of cooking. Basically just do what you would usually do, taste what you have near the end of cooking and adjust seasonings accordingly. Also, brown meat well before cooking if appropriate.

The most common reccomendations I've seen suggest 1 lb onion to a scant 1/4 cup fat, cooked on low 8-10 hours. Keep in mind if you are using one of the older round, tall models (as opposed to the now more common oval ones) there is less surface area on the bottom of the unit, and stirring may be required to acheive a consistent color thorughout the onions and you may have cook on high the last few hours to acheive the desired effect. This following was taken from this site: Click here for more crockpot Q&A's Q: What temperature does the low setting and high setting reach? A: With gradual heat build up food generally reaches a temperature of 170° to 180° F and liquid will reach around 200° F.

I started up w/ their service about 10 yrs ago for the sole purpose of getting the free coffee maker (I think at that time I was making about $700/month so getting a coffee maker was quite a luxury). The coffee was pretty good...I don't recall it being extremely noteworthy in any way, though - and, as mentioned, the price was a little high in relation to the goods received. I've got by w/ that same coffee maker for 10 yrs (the flip top cover where you pour in the water has broken) - it does the job, I mean it's an electric drip coffee maker...no big deal. But it has kept me from ever having to buy one (note: I am an occasional coffee drinker and don't rely on it for daily sustenance). The maker I have is the 4-cup model, which suits me just fine. The size is appropriate so coffee is not getting scorched/overheated while languishing on the burner...they do have several other offers out, though, and if you already have a drip coffee maker it's may be to your advantage to seek out one of their other offers, such as the offer w/ a carafe as a premium as opposed to the coffee maker. As for the whole beans versus ground, I would think that would depend on what method you would be using to brew and grind... Generally beans are preferable - - but as I recall most of their coffee is packaged in 1/4# packages so can be plowed through fairly effectively w/o losing a lot of freshness for the average coffee drinker if you are getting the ground. Also, I'm not sure if they package any of their stuff in 'breathable' bags. But, again, I'm a more casual coffee drinker, so my tastes are not quite as finely tuned as others may be.

I consulted Mexico The Beautiful, Zarela's Food From My Heart and Diana Kennedy's The Cuisines of Mexico. I also checked Rick Bayless' Mexican Kitchen, but could find no recipe - though I think his first book (Authentic Mexican) may have one. The first two have fairly similar recipes and both call for pork, garlic, s&p, cinnamon, cloves, oregano, ground chiles, paprika and red wine/cider vinegar. Diana's recipe is a little more interesting looking and calls for pork tenderloin, pork fat, ground ancho and pasilla, coriander, cloves, whole peppercorns, oregano, cumin, garlic, paprika, salt, mild vinegar and vodka. Her advice is this can be ate freshly made or allowed to season 3 days under refigeration (stirring well daily), and if casing then to prick the sausages all over after cased and allow to hang for 3 days to get rid of excess moisture. She also mentions the need for tender pork, free of tendons and tough skin, otherwise the meat will be "...hard from it's rather brief cooking, and very indigestible...". I looked at several other recipes at a couple of worthwhile internet sites and they were all quite similar to the ones in Mexico The Beautiful and Zarela's book. Since I don't have a personal variation on any of these, PM me if you are interested in specific recipe quantities.