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Post by bixaorellana on Feb 16, 2012 19:01:44 GMT
There is a Chinese " red cooking" technique that's meant to make the cartilage delectable. I haven't done this in ages, but it is yummy. (not that Kerouac's method doesn't sound delicious!) Annie, that reminds me I need to go to a health food store & get some barley. I never see it in the supermarkets. What is pot barley, please?
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Post by Deleted on Feb 16, 2012 20:10:34 GMT
And so the oxtail terminated its sojourn in my kitchen as 15-bean oxtail chili with chopped onions and parmesan.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 17, 2012 20:04:20 GMT
Tonight was ultra basic comfort food -- pork chops and fried potatoes.
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Post by auntieannie on Feb 17, 2012 22:52:22 GMT
nice potties!
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Post by Don Cuevas on Feb 17, 2012 22:58:22 GMT
Today, a new item on the menu of Mariscos La Güera: "Tacolote de Mariscos". It's actually a seafood burrito with rice inside a flour tortilla. While it wasn't bad, it was pretty boring, even with the very picante salsa de la casa. I already knew that when dining at Mariscos La Güera, it's best to stay with the old, reliable standards. I guess I'm a fool for novelty.
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Post by bixaorellana on Feb 18, 2012 3:46:03 GMT
Ooooo, those potatoes are perfection! Rice. In a burrito. You coulda stayed home & made yourself a nice spaghetti sandwich.
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Post by Don Cuevas on Feb 18, 2012 13:00:13 GMT
I could think of several ways the tacolote could be improved. Seasoning, for one. Sauteing the seafood with some onion and a bit of garlic, instead of just reheating preboiled seafood. I do understand that the octopus needed to be parboiled. I fear that our short visit to Zihuatanejo spoiled me with its very fresh seafood. I will say that the waitstaff at Mariscos La Güera is as good looking as ever. Many are wearing new uniforms. Our young waitress looked smashing in a nicely fitting red apron.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 18, 2012 21:35:41 GMT
I had steak tartare tonight. I used two egg yolks instead of one, which is probably against regulations.
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Post by bixaorellana on Feb 18, 2012 22:42:07 GMT
I think you boys are bursting with too much health.
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Post by auntieannie on Feb 18, 2012 22:48:28 GMT
you look very green to me, bixa! I made myself a beef casserole tonight.
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Post by Don Cuevas on Feb 20, 2012 12:43:57 GMT
Yesterday, we drove down the mountain to the small, sub-tropical town of Ziracuaretiro, Michoacán, elevation 4,500 feet a.s.l. and the deservedly famous Restaurante La Mesa de Blanca. We were six in all. The bar was out of our usual mezcal, but our friend Mark spotted an uncommon Tequila on the list, El Tesoro Don Felipe Blanco, and five of us started with a glass of that, accompanied by the distinctive house "sangrita". We then ordered some starters, among them, Chiles Capones, which are filled with queso fresco, bathed in a mild salsa of tomatillos, and enriched with crema. The gorditas de queso y rajas were disappointingly flat and unattractive. The free botanas (snacks) included a plate of sliced cucumbers and orange sections in a picante vinegar, as well as a dish of crisp tender pickled vegetables. Doña Cuevas had a small cheese board of requesón (ricotta like cheese) and artesanal queso fresco, from a ranch in the area. Main courses included two different rabbit dishes,one prepared in a sweet and sour sauce of three citric juices; the other rabbit simply grilled over the coals, without sauce; Pork rib morsels in a chile tomato sauce, accompanied by uchepos (sweet unfilled tamales made from fresh corn); Chile Poblano Relleno de Queso Fresco; Chile Pasilla Relleno de Picadillo (rehydrated chile Poblano filled with seasoned minced meat and fruit); and my dish was a very generously portioned Mixiote De Codero (parchment pouch filled with savory chunks of lamb in a natural jus, sided with an ensalada de nopalitos and delicious rice. I need to mention that our waiter kept us well supplied with baskets of hot, handmade tortillas, made from both blue and white corn. There are so superior to the usual limp cardboard machine made tortillas, that I must have eaten more than six. We shared two pitchers of the unmissable drink, Agua Fresca de Zarzamora ("fresh blackberry ade") and two of us ended our meal with cups of rich café de olla. (Coffee sweetened with raw sugar and cinnamon...and something else.) Just a few sample pictures to share. A couple are "legacy" pics from previous visits. Chiles CaponesChile Pasilla Relleno de PicadilloMixiote de CorderoConejo en Tres Jugos
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Post by bixaorellana on Feb 20, 2012 15:31:49 GMT
All very interesting, DonC, and it certainly looks delicious. Are the dishes such as the fancy rabbit specialties of the restaurant, or are they regional recipes?
The chiles capones .......... pasilla/chile negro? or chilaca? or something else entirely?
And that pasilla relleno looks way to wide for a pasilla -- maybe because of being opened & stuffed. There are so many regional names, it gets confusing.
Re: mixiote -- you undoubtedly know this, but mixiote is food cooked in the outer layer of an agave leaf. Keeping a supply of those could be problematic for a restaurant, I should imagine, which is why parchment paper is often used instead. Baggies and foil are also used, definitely lessening the visual appeal.
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Post by tod2 on Feb 20, 2012 16:57:40 GMT
First a comment about Kerouac's meals: I totally adore pork chops and if chosen correctly, need not be a dried out piece of meat. Yours look perfect Kerouac! I usually have to have either apple sauce or apple jelly near to hand but lately find that the amarula jelly I bought in Kruger Park is even better Don - those dishes look yummy! I have to ask if that accompaniment is a sticky rice? I am not a fussy eater except for one thing! I have to have my salad on a totally separate plate to my main dish. Usually because the main is hot or has a SAUCE which i don't want on my salad. It's a pain to have to try and explain this to the waiter/waitress at times but worth it. Tonight we finished off the oxtail I made on Saturday. The tails were small - no more than eight sections in each and no teeny little end pieces that are just glutinous bone. I wanted to add a tin of Italian tomato chunks but could only find a tin of Indian curry spiced tomato and onion. This has the addition of curry leaves and garlic. That was the best move ever! it added a very subtle kick to the sauce and I will do it this way in the future.
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Post by Don Cuevas on Feb 20, 2012 17:24:38 GMT
All very interesting, DonC, and it certainly looks delicious. Are the dishes such as the fancy rabbit specialties of the restaurant, or are they regional recipes? The chiles capones .......... pasilla/chile negro? or chilaca? or something else entirely? And that pasilla relleno looks way to wide for a pasilla -- maybe because of being opened & stuffed. There are so many regional names, it gets confusing. Re: mixiote -- you undoubtedly know this, but mixiote is food cooked in the outer layer of an agave leaf. Keeping a supply of those could be problematic for a restaurant, I should imagine, which is why parchment paper is often used instead. Baggies and foil are also used, definitely lessening the visual appeal. Bixa, the Chiles Capones are chilacas, but dried then rehydrated. They are what I call chiles pasillas, but apparently they have other definitions in Ziracuaretiro. Agreed; the "Chile Pasilla Relleno de Picadillo" looks like a chile ancho or mulato. Again, regional names differ. About the rabbit dishes: I don't know. I've seen the grilled rabbit at other restaurants, but not the one in Tres Jugos. I realized yesterday that the mixiote was wrapped in paper rather than the tissue inside the penca de maguey. I think that previously, they were wrapped in the traditional way. Whatever the small loss in visual appeal, I warrant that not a bit of flavor was lost. Gracias a Dios that they didn't wrap it in aluminum foil. The only disapointing items were the Gorditas de Queso y Rajas. Where once they were plump, bursting with gooey melting cheese and strips of roasted green chile, yesterday's were but sad little flapjacks of little character. But we forgave the restaurant for that small lapse.
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Post by bixaorellana on Feb 21, 2012 0:40:49 GMT
yesterday's were but sad little flapjacks of little character I think that's the most melancholy thing I've ever read!
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Post by Don Cuevas on Feb 21, 2012 20:39:07 GMT
The gordita of dinners past: Gorditas de ayerLas gorditas de hoy no tienen foto.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 24, 2012 8:45:05 GMT
I made a "hâchis de poisson" the other night, which I far prefer to hâchis parmentier (shepherd's pie). I also incorporated some leaves of Belgian endive into the mixture, and it turned out to be an excellent improvisation.
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Post by amboseli on Feb 24, 2012 12:42:57 GMT
We'll have a magret de canard tonight. With gratin dauphinois and braised Belgian endive.
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Post by auntieannie on Feb 24, 2012 16:51:34 GMT
I made a " hâchis de poisson" the other night, which I far prefer to hâchis parmentier (shepherd's pie). I also incorporated some leaves of Belgian endive into the mixture, and it turned out to be an excellent improvisation. ah... you had a fish pie!
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Post by bixaorellana on Feb 24, 2012 17:31:21 GMT
But was it a stargazy pie?
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Post by Deleted on Feb 24, 2012 18:16:44 GMT
Whatever it was, it wasn't bad. I could have taken the time to brown it, but nobody was looking and I was hungry. So I just slopped it out and dug in.
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Post by auntieannie on Feb 24, 2012 19:21:34 GMT
home made dal and rice tonight. ultimate soulfood.
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Post by bixaorellana on Feb 24, 2012 19:24:28 GMT
Oh -- glad you mentioned that. I forgot that I bought some teeny little lentils the other day. We'll be eating supper together on different continents! (well, & probably not at the same time)
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Post by onlymark on Feb 24, 2012 19:35:41 GMT
Home made dal and rice tonight................... errrr................ also.
Shouldn't we all link little fingers or something.
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Post by auntieannie on Feb 24, 2012 19:37:41 GMT
hell, yes! ;D
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Post by bixaorellana on Feb 25, 2012 1:00:49 GMT
Sorry -- I'm keeping my little fingers to myself.
Just got home a little while ago & am going to make a mega salad & eat it in front of Merlin.
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Post by Don Cuevas on Feb 25, 2012 1:11:06 GMT
"Don - those dishes look yummy! I have to ask if that accompaniment is a sticky rice? I am not a fussy eater except for one thing! I have to have my salad on a totally separate plate to my main dish. Usually because the main is hot or has a SAUCE which i don't want on my salad. It's a pain to have to try and explain this to the waiter/waitress at times but worth it."
Sorry, Tod2, I overlooked this until now. The rice is not especially sticky, nor is it a perfect, long grain kernel. Most Mexican rice dishes are of the "sopa seca" variety, implying that the grains are first cooked in oil then broth is added. Other ingredients such as tomato puree, peas, carrots, etc., are at the pleasure of the cook.
If you would eat at that restaurant, I'm sure that they would oblige special requests. But you would have to do so in Spanish.
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Post by Don Cuevas on Feb 25, 2012 13:17:36 GMT
Yesterday, Friday February 24, we had three old friends to dinner. We hoped to have a fourth, but he wasn't feeling well. This was the meal that had already been postponed for a week, due to the dank, cloudy and rainy weather we'd been having in the central Michoacán area. But yesterday, we had clear skies. The menu went through three versions in an effort to adapt to changing situation. Originally, it was centered on a few appetizers, pasta with white clam sauce, salad, bread and dessert. Just before the decision to postpone the meal, I'd added a soup course of minestrone. But all that had to wait a week, when I came up with a totally revised menu. APPETIZERS: Caponata Piquillo peppers stuffed with cream cheese-marlin ahumado spread. Prosciutto-Mozzarella roll. Baguette slices. SALAD Baby Romaine, Spinach and Mushrooms, Vine tomatoes, Lemon-White Balsamic Dressing with capers. MAIN COURSE Boneless short ribs braised in wine, mirepoix of onion, celery, carrots mushrooms. Parsley garnish. Polenta Beverages: Cokes, mineral water, tonic water, red wines, including a Spanish wine new to us; Altos de Tamaron. Dessert: Gelato, possibly cookies. Coffee on request. (As it turned out, no one wanted any.) A couple of hours before dinner time, we got word that our friend was unable to come. He was to have brought dessert, so I fell back on an old standby. frozen berry mix on softened vanilla ice cream atop a small slice of toasted pound cake. I also decided to combine the appetizer platter with the salad course, thus eliminating a probably superfluous bowl of salad. Good choice, as we had about a third of the appetizer platter left over when all was over. I also dropped the spinach from the lineup as excess. I'd started the preparation of the short ribs two days in advance, by marinating them in red wine, herbs, spices and garlic. The next day I browned them, then slowly simmered them 2 1/2 hours in more red wine (I used 1 1/2 bottles in all) plus the mirepoix less the mushrooms. Those were added on the third day, after it all spent a night in the fridge. Yesterday, the third day, after several steps with which I won't bore you, it all came together with both fresh and dried mushrooms, small onions, a beurre manie thickener, and done! Very tender and flavorful in its rich, reduced wine sauce. A very plain coarse polenta and warmed baguette slices were the perfect accompaniment. My only complaint is that there's never enough sauce for the substantial leftovers, but it was sufficient during the meal. Thanks to the staged approach, Sra. Cuevas and I were able to spend more time with our guests. But having only 3 guests instead of more, as we had in the past, certainly went a long way to easing the work load. The only representative photo I have is this: Antipasto Platter
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Post by bixaorellana on Feb 25, 2012 15:30:33 GMT
That sounds fantastic and the picture certainly upholds that impression!
My feelings about caponata can only be expressed with sublime orchestral music, but I'm also very drawn to those stuffed peppers. What are piquillo peppers, please? Stuff raw, or parboiled? Now I'm dying to try to reproduce that stuffing.
Oh, and what is that adorable little plate with the white rim -- the one in the far right of the picture that looks like some sort of souvenir plate?
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Post by Deleted on Feb 25, 2012 17:00:08 GMT
My eyes are drawn to the mushrooms. I have been craving mushrooms for the last several days and have not yet attended to this need.
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