Tropicalsenior

Thank you. Unfortunately, in Costa Rica have to buy whatever I can find.

At least I hope this is black rice vinegar.

Thank you, I just happen to have both of these but the only thing that I don't have is garlic. As soon as I can get to the store I am going to try this and I will let you know how it turns out. One interesting note, most of the garlic sold in Costa Rica now comes from China.

Those really look good and with like garlic phobic housemates, sometimes I am starved for garlic. Have you ever thought of trying to make them? The only thing that I could find on Google that seems to be close is this but it's not as dark. Do you have any ideas how I might make them?

I've made this and we love it but I've only made it with pork. I'm going to have to try the ground beef. Thank you again for this recipe. I've made them several times and they're a little tedious but well worth the effort. I've used the filling that you suggest and I also used the filling for a Korean egg roll recipe that I have. I got it here.

I read the recipe on this thread and I might be tempted to make it except that I don't know where to find 1 chicken neck for the Ragu. Holy cow, what a recipe!

On plastic containers, it comes off with just a few swipes of Goo Gone.

Wow, that is almost word-for-word the recipe that I have been using. I have had to use parmesan because I can't get the Greek cheese and I did put mozzarella in the pasta mix. It is an excellent recipe. Thank you. I did want to mention that the best pastitsio that I ever had in my life was in a Greek restaurant in Queens. I will not mention the name of the restaurant because I had the worst case of food poisoning afterwards. But it sure tasted good going down.

Looks absolutely delicious and I want to try it. In your recipe you mentioned starch. What type of starch do you use? The only type that I have available to me is cornstarch or flour. Will that work?

If you use your own sauce recipe, make sure that it is cooked down until it is quite thick. Otherwise it bleeds into the other layers. I can't see that it would change the taste much but it would not make it easy to slice. I'll try to get my pastitsio recipe sorted it out and post that, too.

I know that I'm breaking my own rule by adding a casserole but this is one of my new favorite recipes

My family loves lasagna but I get tired of making it and sometimes I just don't have any lasagna noodles in the pantry. I make a killer pastitsio and I tried spaghetti pie. But to be truthful, we'd rather just have the spaghetti. So when I came across this recipe the other day, I thought it would be worth trying and it was good. Good enough to share. Beef Vermicelli Cake serves: 4 to 6 3 1/4 oz salted butter 1 onion, chopped 1 lb 2 oz ground beef 28 fl oz bottled pasta sauce 2 tablespoons tomato paste 9 oz vermicelli 1/4 cup all-purpose flour 1 1/4 cups milk 1 1/4 cups grated cheddar cheese Preheat the oven to 350°. Lightly grease a 9 inch round deep spring-form cake pan. Melt a tablespoon of the butter in a large deep frying pan and cook the onion over medium heat for 2 to 3 minutes, or until soft. Add the beef, breaking up any lumps with the back of a spoon, and cook for 4 to 5 minutes, or until browned. Stir in the pasta sauce and tomato paste, reduce the heat and simmer for 20 to 25 minutes. Season well. Cook the pasta in a large saucepan of rapidly boiling salted water until al dente. Drain well. Meanwhile, melt the remaining butter in a saucepan over low heat. Stir in the flour and cook for 1 minute, or until pale and foaming. Remove from the heat and gradually stir in the milk. Return to the heat and stir constantly until the sauce boils and thickens. Reduce the heat and simmer for 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Spread half the pasta over the base of the pan , then cover with half the meat sauce. Cover with the remaining pasta, pressing down with the palm of your hand. Spoon on the remaining meat sauce and then pour on the white sauce. Sprinkle the cheese on the top and cook for 20 minutes. Leave to stand for 15 minutes before removing from the pan. Cut into wedges to serve. Quick Pasta Sauce (double the recipe) 8 oz ground beef 1/2 small onion, diced 1 garlic clove, minced 14 oz canned diced tomatoes 1/2 teaspoon ground oregano 1/2 teaspoon dried basil 1 1/2 tablespoons dry vermouth or red wine Salt and pepper to taste Combine ground beef, onion, and garlic in a skillet and saute until no longer pink. Add the remaining ingredients and simmer on low heat until most of the moisture has evaporated. At this point, season with salt and pepper to taste. Since my family loves cheddar cheese I made it just as is and it was a big hit, however I think that I will try it the next time with mozzarella and Parmesan. If you don't have a springform pan, I don't see any reason at all that this can't be made in a casserole dish and served like lasagna.

Actually, I think you ought to include them because the rest of us are going to benefit from this, too.

Yesterday @JoNorvelleWalker sent out a plea for ideas and recipes for using ground beef. She's cooking for one and I can tell from her posts that she isn't into casseroles so what would be your suggestions for her? These are what I make when I want something quick. Tacos Taco salad Sloppy Joes Goulash Cheeseburgers Hamburgers with mushroom gravy Beef enchiladas Meatloaf Teriyaki meatballs Swedish meatballs Meatball Stroganoff Spaghetti with meatballs Joe's Special

The freezers friend! It will write on any type of plastic. Without these, I would have a whole freezer full of mystery meat.

Granted, I haven't bought meat in the US for over 30 years but I never dealt with a supermarket butcher Department that wouldn't make up a smaller package for you. If that is the only way that you can get it, why not make it up in small packages and freeze it?

Thank you so much. I am going to have to try this, soon!

It all looks delicious and I am particularly interested in how you make the fish cake. It looks like sliced fish loaf. Whenever I make fish loaf it always falls apart and doesn't slice beautifully like yours does. How do you do it?

I am sorry! Someone sent it to me just this morning and I didn't realize that it had already been posted.

Not to be outdone by the pigs.

As long as I had the griddle hot I had to give it a try. These are lousy tortillas but they are the only corn tortillas that I have. They came with the take out chicken the other night but they give you the idea. Nice flavorful little flecks of brown but still pliable enough for tacos.

I don't understand that at all. You don't want the cast iron screaming hot. I just heated my little griddle and at two and a half minutes it was the perfect temperature.

This is what I use on a burner turned to medium high. Heating them in the microwave will work but you don't get that puff that gives you the nice flaky texture. The trick is to have the griddle hot enough to give you some nice brown spots in just a few seconds instead of black spots. The Griddle is made by Lodge. Edited: A comal will work perfectly fine. I used to have one but I find The Griddle to be a much more versatile tool which is important when you have a small kitchen. Let me tell you, it's almost impossible to make a grilled cheese sandwich in a comal.

I want to preface this by saying that none of my children had food allergies or special dietary needs. The dinner options were, when we eat together we all eat the food that is set on the table or when we eat together we all eat the food that is set on the table. Special meals could be requested when they had friends over or for special occasions. As a single mother raising four daughters oh, I had neither the time, energy nor money to be catering to four different diets. Our meals were served family style and when they were old enough to put the food on their plate they were allowed to choose how much they wanted of each item. If it was something that they particularly hated, they weren't forced to eat it.