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Post by Don Cuevas on Aug 15, 2010 10:32:45 GMT
For comida, miscel. leftover soups and hot, freshly baked buttermilk cornbread, made from Nora Mill Stone Ground Corn. We didn't quite finish the soups, but between us, we ate the entire pan of cornbread. The last wedges were dessert, with drizzles of molasses.
This cornbread is so good that we have pretty much stopped buttering it.
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Post by Don Cuevas on Aug 16, 2010 16:54:22 GMT
(Seems like I'm the only one here lately.)
Today for comida (yet to happen.): roasted herbed boneless pork loin, sweet and tangy ginger plum sauce*, fresh green beans, mabe a variant on kasha varnishkes, or maybe just boiled potatoes. Maybe I'll par cook the potatoes in the pressure cooker and finish them with the roast.
The varnishkes can wait.
* I discovered this red compote in the depths of our freezer, thawed it and tasted it. It was a bit too tart. So I recooked it with sugar, then thickened it with some cornstarch. Now it seems the perfect foil to a pork roast.
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Post by bixaorellana on Aug 16, 2010 17:56:31 GMT
Remember, Don Cuevas, it's cool, moist, and pleasant at this time of year where we live. Most of the rest of the world is sweltering and avoiding the stove.
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Post by Don Cuevas on Aug 16, 2010 19:20:23 GMT
Remember, Don Cuevas, it's cool, moist, and pleasant at this time of year where we live. Most of the rest of the world is sweltering and avoiding the stove. My madness knows few bounds. ;D ;D ;D ;D
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Post by Don Cuevas on Aug 16, 2010 20:34:14 GMT
Just finished comida. <groan> The potatoes were outrageosly good; parcooked, sliced thickly, and anointed with olive oil, coarse salt and fresh thyme and marjoram. Mmm, yes, also Pimentón de La Vera. I put in a bunch of unpeeled garlic cloves to bake and when they were done, we spread them on the rustic 10 grain cereal bread I made this morning. The green beans were nice and plain. I forgot to mention the little antipasto app I whipped up between things. Roasted long sweet red peppers, roasted green chiles chilacas, anchovies, queso asadero in cubes, cured olives and a garlicky vinaigrette, Vino tinto Argentino, or from somewhere.. Fresh gingerbread awaits, after a substantial nap. EDIT: A reduced size picture, via "Picnik', below.
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Post by imec on Aug 17, 2010 2:13:21 GMT
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Post by bixaorellana on Aug 17, 2010 3:11:40 GMT
Don Cuevas, if you never cook another meal, I believe you achieved perfection today!
Imec -- corn and crab risotto garnished with the very best of wild mushrooms?! Wow -- that one thing raises the meal to sublime heights. Gorgeous array there. What is the last picture, please?
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Post by imec on Aug 17, 2010 3:15:02 GMT
Thanks! It was fun to prepare. The last pic is of a piece of granite that was heated in the oven then moved to the table where we used chopsticks to place thin slices of marinated New York strip on the stone to cook.
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Post by Don Cuevas on Aug 17, 2010 12:46:51 GMT
"Don Cuevas, if you never cook another meal, I believe you achieved perfection today!"
Well, it was very good, but not prefection. The plum compote/sauce had lots oslittle plum pits in it. The pork loin was purchased in a Cryovac bag, pre-seasoned, at Costco.
But the results were still nice.
We took a plate over to an amiga across the street who was in the laborious process of moving in, and she loved it.
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Post by mickthecactus on Aug 17, 2010 20:47:52 GMT
Don, I don't understand half of what you are writing about but I really like the look of it.....
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Post by Don Cuevas on Aug 17, 2010 22:15:16 GMT
Hang on, Mick, it'll come with time.
Today, we had leftovers. Nothing new to report.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 17, 2010 22:44:05 GMT
Wellll, it was very good, but not prefection. The plum compote/sauce had lots of little plum pits in it. The pork loin was purchased in a Cryovac bag, pre-seasoned, at Costco. But the results were still nice. Visually, it is most definitely perfect, and since visually is the only way I am going to get it, no need for disclaimers about the actual quality.
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Post by mickthecactus on Aug 18, 2010 12:39:50 GMT
Hang on, Mick, it'll come with time. Today, we had leftovers. Nothing new to report. A little translation would be appreciated - ;D Comida Kash varnishkes Pimenton de la vera (some sort of pepper?) Chilacas Queso asadero (something cheesy?) Thanks Don!
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Post by Don Cuevas on Aug 19, 2010 1:37:05 GMT
Hang on, Mick, it'll come with time. Today, we had leftovers. Nothing new to report. A little translation would be appreciated - ;D Comida Kash varnishkes Pimenton de la vera (some sort of pepper?) Chilacas Queso asadero (something cheesy?) Thanks Don! Mick. "comida" is Spanish for "food" in general, but specifically refers to a mid-afternoon main meal. Kasha Varnishkes (Yiddish or perhaps Russian) are bow tie noodles blended with steamed toasted buckwheat grains and falvored with onions caramelized in chicken fat. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kasha_varnishkasPimentón de La Vera is a wonderful smoked Spanish paprika. It comes in mild or "hot". www.pimentonvera-origen.com/ "Chilacas" are longish, skinny dark green chiles of good flavor and not too picante. Queso asadero is a cheese meant for grilling and melting.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 19, 2010 3:10:12 GMT
I would kill for some of those mushrooms Imec posted back there...nice risotto too.
Don C. thanks for the translation....and the gorgeous pics of your creations as usual!!
Tonight I went with a group of friends to a small,San Salvadorian restaurant. Run by a mother and son,lovely,jovial people,we were inundated with a variety of dishes,some vegetarian yucca dishes,plantains,both fried,a lovely olive and heart of palm plate,one really fabulous dish was dumplings yucca,stuffed with cheese and portabello mushrooms. Then, a variety of traditional pupusas,beef,chicken and pulled pork and a divine,portabello mushroom,roasted pepper & cheese. A couple of salads,ceviche. Dessert was homemade flan.
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Post by mickthecactus on Aug 19, 2010 7:54:21 GMT
Thanks Don. Much appreciated.
Spanish/Jewish eh? That's unusual.
I recognise Pimenton now. My daughter is an excellent cook, particularly Spanish food and uses a lot of of that. I must show her some of these.
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Post by Don Cuevas on Aug 19, 2010 8:07:27 GMT
Mick, I was going to give you a link to the D.O. Pimentón de La Vera website, but my connection was balky last night. Here it is now. www.pimentonvera-origen.com/principal.htmThis is the brand we generally can obtain here in Mexico:
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Post by mickthecactus on Aug 19, 2010 10:32:52 GMT
Mick, I was going to give you a link to the D.O. Pimentón de La Vera website, but my connection was balky last night. Here it is now. www.pimentonvera-origen.com/principal.htmThis is the brand we generally can obtain here in Mexico: Thank you Don. Kind of you. I'll send my daughter the link.
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Post by Don Cuevas on Aug 20, 2010 8:11:14 GMT
Yesterday afternoon, on return from Morelia, the state capital of Michoacán, we stopped at our favorite seafood restaurant, Mariscos La Güera Campestre on the highway about 8 miles northeast of Pátzcuaro. We each had exactly the same lunch: a tostada de marlín guisado (shredded smoked marlin fish cooked with onions, garlic, tomatoes and chiles, and spread thickly on a round maize crisp; medium cocktails of camarones and pulpos (Mexican style seafood cocktails, served in an ice cream sundae glass or a coupe (a whole topic in itself.); and an order of French fries to share. The fries were the best we've ever had there, brown and lots of them. With this we drank a half pitcher of freshly made Agua Fresca de Guayaba, a drink made from fresh guavas, sugar and water. It was outstanding, and more than sufficient for our thirsts. Tostada de Marlín Coctel Mediano de Camarones Doña Cuevas says the bill for all this was $160 MXP, or about $12.62 USD. Seems kind of unreal, doesn't it? One would likely pay a lot more in fancier venues, in Morelia or elsewhere. On the other hand, there are inexpensive seafood stands at numerous locations, including near us, but the quality is not as high as at the two Mariscos La Güeras. I have to say that often if not usually, one or both of us have beer or micheladas (beer, lime juice, salted rimmed glass and seasonings to taste, often Clamato added.) and those drive up the final bill. I think the most we ever paid for two of us eating there was $280 MXN, ($23 USD) but a whole huauchinango (red snapper) and several boozey drinks were involved. I'm hazy on the details.
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Post by mickthecactus on Aug 20, 2010 8:38:45 GMT
Good morning/good evening Don.
My grandson would die for that meal.........
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Post by Deleted on Aug 20, 2010 14:06:43 GMT
Kidneys in wine sauce tonight. Probably with boiled potatoes.
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Post by Don Cuevas on Aug 20, 2010 22:52:10 GMT
Today; either a late breakfast or an early lunch: a large bowl of menudo: Mexican beef innards soup in a chile broth, heavy on the tripe, knuckle bones, yummy cartilage and such. Various condiments are available to your taste: the chopped onion is almost obligatory, as is a squeeze or two of fresh Mexican lime; diced chiles perón, or crumbled toasted skinny hottie chiles de árbol; or BEST, a homemade salsa, really a condiment, of toasted chiles de árbol, peanuts, sesame seeds, garlic, salt and oil. The stuff is great!
Your bowl of menudo comes with a stack of hot, fresh corn tortillas, this time noticeably thicker and "homier" than before.
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Post by bixaorellana on Aug 21, 2010 0:28:09 GMT
homemade salsa, really a condiment, of toasted chiles de árbol, peanuts, sesame seeds, garlic, salt and oil. Never had that. It sounds wonderful. Any idea what it's called &/or how to make it? Yesterday I had a vuelve a la vida ("come back to life" -- shrimp, oysters, octopus, & ceviche) for 30 pesos at a little hole in the wall that opened up near where Charlie lives. Okay, I think there was only one oyster in it, but two things made it stellar: a) it was not sweet; b) nothing needed to be added to it -- it was perfect.
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Post by lagatta on Aug 21, 2010 1:45:50 GMT
I love that smoked pimenton... I can get it a few meters from my house.
Tonight - tiny green beans. Steamed a bit, then added to finely chopped red onion and one clove of garlic (I didn't want to overwhelm the lovely little beans) which were sautéed in good olive oil - in my wok, but not at normal wok heat. Took off heat, added a large quantity of finely-chopped fresh local flatleaf parsley.
Nothing else - last night I had some of a baguette with some saucisson with friends at a Brazilian evening at a nearby park. Bit of white wine and fizzy water both times.
Oh dear bixa, it is hard when you have to struggle for things not to be sweet.
imec was very kind to his picky eater. This reminds me that once I was hosting a friend who claimed to be vegan, but not only did he indulge in the vegetarian but not vegan quiche, but also the seafood laden paella! I had made several vegan things for him - salads of course, a nice lentil dish, but still...
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Post by bixaorellana on Aug 21, 2010 2:32:46 GMT
Mick, that pork dish sounds like the quintessence of everything I find yummiest. However, I cannot get cardamom. Should I try to substitute something, or wait until I go to the States & lay in a supply of that nothing-else-like-it spice?
Love kidneys. Love kidneys in wine sauce even more.
Actually, kidneys would be lovely with LaGatta's teeny beanys, which must have been perfect on their own, as well.
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Post by Don Cuevas on Aug 21, 2010 9:27:53 GMT
"Never had that. It sounds wonderful. Any idea what it's called &/or how to make it?" I think it may be called "salsa macha", but I'm not sure. I thought of asking Tere, the menudería operator, but I thought I could figure it out on my own. But, I think she'd give me the recipe if I asked. I've seen this elsewhere and on the shelves of stores, but Tere's salsa was unusually good. This is a guess, not a recipe. 1. Toast chiles de arbol on a comal or dry skillet. (Lightly toasted; not scorched.) 2. Toast cacahuates. There was a taste of well roasted peanuts in the sauce. 3. Toast ajonjolí. (sesame seeds, preferably unhulled.) 4. Soak chiles in boiling water to cover until softened, then drain. 3. Grind all together to a thick paste. 4. Heat some neutral vegetable oil in a skillet, slowly fry paste until any water evaporates. 5. Salt to taste. 6. Cool paste a bit before putting in a small jar along with enough of the frying oil to thin the salsa. 7. Can be done with chiles chipotles. It shouldn't be nececesary to toast already smoked chipotles. 8. Haven't tried any of this yet. About cardamom: if you get to Mexico City, you can find it at Molnera "El Progreso", on Calle Aranda #26, near Calle Ayuntamiento, Centro. It's next door to the hallucinogenic looking Pulquería "Las Duelistas". El Progreso (No, they don't make muffalletas.) Inside.. picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/zzz9HB4rix1gCdo4gG-Opw?feat=directlinkNext door... What did I come for? Oh; cardamom.
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Post by imec on Aug 21, 2010 16:20:46 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Aug 21, 2010 16:42:53 GMT
I will also peel my potatoes.
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Post by bixaorellana on Aug 21, 2010 16:44:07 GMT
Don Cuevas, you will see that I babbled on about salsa macha in your thread in The Galley. That was because I saw that one before this one. You say something here that I'd wondered about, i.e., wouldn't it make more sense to soften the chiles in liquid before grinding. El Progreso (No, they don't make muffalletas.) ;D The pulquería does not tempt me! I've only tried pulque once. That was enough. Again with the gorgeous food, Imec! I am very interested in the roast cauliflower. It never would have occurred to me to roast it, but those darkened bits make it look really good. I imagine roasting it brings out its essential sweetness and intensifies the flavor, since it can be somewhat watery otherwise.
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Post by imec on Aug 21, 2010 16:50:18 GMT
I am very interested in the roast cauliflower. It never would have occurred to me to roast it, but those darkened bits make it look really good. I imagine roasting it brings out its essential sweetness and intensifies the flavor, since it can be somewhat watery otherwise. I started doing this just recently - and I'm now hooked for the reasons you guessed. It's very simple and forgiving too (much more difficult to overcook this way). Simply toss in a pan with some melted butter mixed with a little olive oil (to raise the smoking point) and pop in a 425 degree oven for about 30 minutes. then place in a serving dish adding grated cheddar cheese as you go - then place in the oven (now turned off) for a minute or two to allow the cheese to melt.
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