Tropicalsenior

Sometimes you have to trick them. some seeds like dill are cold weather seeds and you have to put them in the refrigerator for a week. Others need extra moisture at the beginning and you can put them in a folded, wet cloth for a few days until they sprout. Worth a try. It's illegal to import seeds here, too. I had a friend who always got seeds from her daughter in letters with the seeds glued to the page as punctuation.

I grew some a while back and I quite like the flavor but I found it it is only good for salads and to stir in a dish at the very last minute. If you cook it any longer than that, it gives the dish the appearance that you have stirred in a whole flock of flies. Very unpleasant.

Is there any chance that someone could send you some seeds? Most herbs will do quite well in a pot in a sunny window. I have a totally brown thumb but I manage to keep my favorites going in pots, not because I can't buy them here, but because I usually only use a small amount and they wind up as nasty little bags of goo in my refrigerator after a few days.

Your food just looks better and better all the time. Nice to meet another Rumpole fan.

Oh, I agree with you. They make darned good corned beef in the States. if I were living there I probably wouldn't make it. I'd wait until after Saint Patrick's Day and fill the freezer. But they've never even heard of it down here. This is a hard place to live if you liked cured meat or a good steak. I make my own breakfast sausage, Italian sausage, Argentinian sausage, Mexican chorizo and ham. There are some things in life you just can't live without. You guys drive me crazy, posting all those gorgeous steaks and prime ribs.

@DiggingDogFarmThank you for the link. All this information is just exactly what I've been looking for.

No, but I sure would be interested in this. Pork belly is about $3 a pound here, and bacon is almost $10 a pound. Thank you for the link. I'm still reading it and it's fascinating. My only problem is that they cut the pork belly into narrow strips. but I've got a new butcher and I think I can talk him into giving me a big piece.

@gfwebIs it possible to make corned beef with a dry rub?

Thank you. This is exactly the type of information that I have been looking for. I am going to be reading all the information that they have to offer. I do make all my own hams. And this is going to help me a lot.

I live in a nice solid concrete house so it's about 10 degrees cooler inside. Never need air conditioning and there's no such thing as a furnace in this country. There are times that I envy you your cool weather, though, because there's no way that I could ever cure dry sausage or hang anything to dry cure or dry age. And I do miss the winter fruits. They all have to be imported and I might as well be buying gold. Other than that, for me, snow is a four letter word.

@chromedomeI do use coarse salt in my brining, in fact it's the only thing I use. I was just worried about mixing it with a nitrite powder. When we first moved down here, I was delighted to find a coarse salt in a package in the grocery store. I came home and set up a batch of dill pickles, which we couldn't get down here either. Within 2 days I had the most vile mess that you've ever smelled. I read the label on the package that I had bought and it was called Sal Inglaterra (English salt). When I was finally smart enough to read the dictionary I found out that I had bought Epsom salts. Not recommended for dill pickles! BYT, it is supposed to reach 85 degrees here this afternoon.

Thank you. I am aware of that, hence my questioning of the purveyors. This is obviously not a commercial product and here they seem to think that if a little is good, a lot is going to be a lot better. I did inherit some pure nitrite from a friend who made his own sausage but I hesitate to use it. I have read the 6 ounces of nitrate to 1 lb of salt is an adequate proportion but that only comes out to 4% solution. I've also read that it should be only six parts to 100. That is a 1% solution. Also, the only salt that I can get here without iodine is a very coarse kosher salt that I would have to grind before I could use it, and I'm not sure that my kitchen scale is accurate enough for safety. I have a good one but when it comes to this, I just don't want to take chances. I'm confused, The internet at times can be so frustrating. Everyone's an expert and no one seems to know anything. that's why I knew I could trust the people here.

I love it! But did he have to eat it?

Only one person has been able to tell me percentage. As for nitrite/nitrate, he had no idea. He just said it was 6%. So I bought it from him. he's a little man in our Central Market that sells spice in bulk. I have used it to make ham and it worked perfectly.

Thank you. Does Tender Quick give the meat that nice pink color?

let me know how yours turns out. That church corn beef does sound good. Someday I want to use this recipe and make pastrami. One of our members posted a good pastrami recipe and I can't find it. Still looking though. The only problem is, I have neither a barbecue or a smoker. Ridiculous as it seems, this is my only BBQ Grill. It is an Argentinian tabletop brazier. In order to smoke something, I have to fire it up and put a cardboard box over it. It's not worth a darn for any cool smoking.

Just posted the recipe.

Home Style Corned Beef We still cannot buy corned beef here and I try to make this at least once a year and have it for St. Patrick’s Day. Then I invite all of our corned beef starved friends for dinner. Corned beef must be an acquired taste because all of the Latinos that come here think that we are crazy. Even if you buy your corned beef, the preparations given here are some of the best ways to cook it. Corned Beef Brine: 4 cups water 1 teaspoon saltpetre 4 whole cloves 8 whole allspice berries 1/4 cup white vinegar 1/2 cup salt 4 bay leaves 1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns 1/2 teaspoon mustard seed 1/4 cup granulated sugar Combine all ingredients, and bring to a boil. Cool thoroughly and add 4 garlic cloves, mashed. Meat: 5 pounds of beef brisket Pierce meat well with a sharp fork or a Jacquard tool and place in a large bag with a zip type closure. Add brine ingredients. Place in another plastic bag and refrigerate. (if you have a plastic container that the meat fits well inside, you can use that. See photo) if using a plastic container, place a plate on the top of the meat to submerge it in the brine. Be sure to turn it every 2 days. Turn the meat at least every two days. Let meat cure for 2 to 3 weeks (a small cut of meat can be used in as little as 8 to 10 days). If you don’t plan to use the meat at this time, wrap it well and freeze it. Preparation: Rinse meat well, and place in a large pot. Cover with water and add: 1 teaspoon whole peppercorns 3 bay leaves 2 cloves of garlic Simmer gently for 3 hours. At the end of 2 hours add; 4 large potatoes cut in quarters 10 to 12 small peeled onions, whole 2 carrots, cut in large chunks At the end of 2 1/2 hours, add 1 small cabbage, cut in quarters, with the core left on to hold it together. (I always please toothpicks in the wedges to hold them together) Serve with horseradish sauce and mustard. Instant Pot Preparation: Since I got my instant pot, this is my new favorite way to cook corned beef. Rinse the meat well, and place it in the instant pot. Cover with water and add the aromatics as in the previous method. Cover the pot and close, checking to see that the pressure gauge is in place. Select manual setting for 50 minutes and start. when the time is up let the pressure release naturally for 15 minutes. Release the remaining pressure, open the pot and remove the meat to a platter. cover and keep warm. Add the carrots, potatoes and onion to the broth inside. Close the pot and cook for 4 minutes. Using natural pressure release as before, add the cabbage wedges and cook for a further 5 minutes. Let the pressure release as before.

@HungryChris Thank you. I'm going to post my recipe in Recipe Gullet. I do have some Tender Quick. Do you have any idea what proportions of change I should make in my recipe?

At Groundhog's Day each year I start hunting for a good piece of meat to make corned beef for Saint Patrick's Day. I found the perfect piece yesterday and I have the perfect recipe (I found it 20 years ago on Food Network). I'm all set except that I have a small problem. My recipe calls for saltpeter and my supply is running low. I'm all set for now but saltpeter is impossible to find in Costa Rica. I usually have my grandson bring some when he comes but he almost always has a panic attack when he does it. I just can't imagine why he gets so nervous just bringing a little white bag of powder through customs. However, I can buy curing salt here. I've been on Google trying to find a pundit who can give me an amount substitution for curing salt and saltpeter. They all said that it can be done but no one seems to have a clear idea of how much to use and by how much I need to adjust the salt in the recipe. Because we have some real experts among our members I'm hoping someone can give me an idea about how to do this. Please, I need your help. Homemade Corned Beef I started my Saint Patrick's dinner yesterday. I used a homemade corned beef recipe that I have had a lot of success with. Corned beef is totally unheard of in Costa Rica so it is homemade or nothing. I love it so much that I make it at least two or three times a year. My biggest problem has been finding the meat that I need. The only type of cattle raised here are a big Brahma cross and they are all pasture-raised. The meat is lean and stringy and they always cut the brisket into small strips to be used for soup. To get a brisket you have to go to a slaughterhouse and buy the full brisket. Recently, I found a cut of meat that is not sold in the supermarkets or in the 'boutique butcher' shops. It is considered peasant food and it is wonderful. It is called giba (HEE-bah) and it is the hump of the Brahma bull. It's nice and marbled and very tender. They only sell it in the small local butcher shops and usually they have to order it for you. My two pound piece of meat ready to go. In the brine. Two weeks to go but it's going to be worth it. If anyone would like the recipe, I will post it on Recipe Gullet. Update: The recipe is here.

Brrr! Everything looks delicious but I will take my end of the patio over yours any day.

I started my Saint Patrick's dinner yesterday. I used a homemade corned beef recipe that I have had a lot of success with. Corned beef is totally unheard of in Costa Rica so it is homemade or nothing. I love it so much that I make it at least two or three times a year. My biggest problem has been finding the meat that I need. The only type of cattle raised here are a big Brahma cross and they are all pasture-raised. The meat is lean and stringy and they always cut the brisket into small strips to be used for soup. To get a brisket you have to go to a slaughterhouse and buy the full brisket. Recently, I found a cut of meat that is not sold in the supermarkets or in the 'boutique butcher' shops. It is considered peasant food and it is wonderful. It is called giba (HEE-bah) and it is the hump of the Brahma bull. It's nice and marbled and very tender. They only sell it in the small local butcher shops and usually they have to order it for you. My two pound piece of meat ready to go. In the brine. Only 2 weeks to wait but it's going to be worth it.

Thank you for the link. If it is true, that we eat first with our eyes, this site is a real feast. I only wish that I were close enough to take advantage of it. I do have to admit that at first sight, I had a senior moment. I missed the link completely. My first impression was that you were raising your own beef and I thought OMG, he has broken my father's first rule of raising livestock. You never name the animals that you raise for food. It brought back memories of the time that we ate Charlie, my sister’s prize 4H steer. None of us had much appetite for beef that winter.

@liuzhou Thank you. I don't know why these intrigue me so much but they do. I guess, like you, I can see endless possibilities and they fit so well into my favorite food group, the sandwich. With your information I went to dear old Google and found these. The first is a recipe, sort of, for corn cakes, free formed. The Second is a good description and an explanation of their history as street food. The really interesting item is a picture of a type of cast iron mold on which they are cooked. From the picture that you showed us on the banquet photo I suspect that something like this was used to make those. I'm going to dust off my bamboo steamer and see what I can come up with. They will have to be corn because I don't think I have even a prayer of finding the sorghum. The combination of corn and brown sugar should duplicate that color perfectly. I make your Rou jia mo all the time. We love them.

Especially down here, I couldn't live without it. Unless you can shell out for the export quality beef, sometimes the beef that you buy was running in the pasture the day before. I bought it in a restaurant supply house here about 25 years ago and the salesman asked me what it was. I told him and demonstrated on the table how it worked. He told me that he already knew how it worked and showed me the palm of his hand. He had scars running the full length of his palm. I paid $15 for it at the time and when I went back 2 weeks later they had about 10 of them for a dollar a piece. I bought every one of them and gave them as gifts.