Please let me properly introduce myself

On 2005-02-23, Jo Firey penned:
You guys are killing me here. I always make my own salsa in the summer when
the tomatoes are good, but its February for crying out loud!

Diced tomatoes
Diced Red Torpedo onion
Diced Celery
Diced Green pepper
Diced Yellow bell pepper if available
Fresh jalapenos, seeded and chopped or canned jalapeno, seeded
Cilantro leaves

Put jalapeno in blender with a chopped up tomato or some tomato juice and
some garlic
Blend thoroughly.
Add cilantro and pulse blender enough to chop up the cilantro

dump blender contents into bowl with diced vegetables. Add hot sauce if
desired.

Did I mention I adore bell peppers, too? Sounds awesome! But what's a red
torpedo onion? I take it it's more specific than just a red onion?

--
monique, who spoils Oscar unmercifully

pictures: http://www.bounceswoosh.org/rpca

Kreisleriana had some very interesting
things to say about Salsa! was Please let me properly introduce
myself:

I'm getting to the point where old standbys like Pace salsa just don't do it
for me; I much prefer the refrigerated stuff with an expiration date.
As long as you don't get that there stuff from Noo York City.

Which reminds me of a thoroughly tasteless post-9/11 joke my demented
DH came up with. I won't post it unless asked to. :-)

--
"The universe is quite robust in design and appears to be
doing just fine on its own, incompetent support staff notwithstanding.
:-)" - the Dennis formerly known as (evil), MCFL

On 2005-02-23, Mary penned:

Lemon also will make it tangy. Lentils are the most unlikely looking of the
delicious foods! I love to brown a whole very large onion, chopped, just to
the point that the pieces are still plump but that that delicious flavor and
smell, and add just that, salsa, some bay leaves, and salt and pepper to my
lentil soup.

Lentil soup is definitely a favorite of mine. I made some from scratch, but I
really didn't think it was such a great improvement over the Progresso version
to be worth the extra time. Maybe I should try again. IIRC it was a
lentil-curry kind of thing. I think I should have upped the curry content, or
maybe use a different type.

Here's an example of a green chili recipe (note: I haven't tried this
one).

http://www-2.cs.cmu.edu/~mjw/recipes...i-coll.html#15

Note that almost everything is measured in teaspoons or tablespoons,
whereas the recipe calls for FOUR POUNDS of green chilis.

Hmmmm. I have got to try this somewhere before I try to make it. I
love spicy food, though.

Well, it sounds like Victor has a tasty green chile recipe ... maybe you
should beg him for that rather than trusting a link I chose at random from a
google search =)

Barring that, just come to the front range area, where there's a mexican place
serving up green chili roughly every 5 feet. The best one I've had so far was
at a restaurant at Keystone ski resort ... that's the one that was actually
red ....

--
monique, who spoils Oscar unmercifully

pictures: http://www.bounceswoosh.org/rpca

jmcquown wrote:
snip


My maternal grandparents were straight off the boat from Scotland in
1923
and grandma definitely made wonderful buttery shortbread. Don't even
think
of attempting this without using real (unsalted) butter.

3/4 c. butter
4 c. sifted all purpose flour
1 c. sugar
1/4 tsp. salt

Blend salt into flour. In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter with
the
sugar and then blend in with the flour mixture until you have a stiff
dough.
Pat the dough out in a 6X9 inch pan, pressing with the sides of a
glass to
smooth the dough. Prick it all over with a fork. Bake at 275F for
50-60
minutes or until lightly browned.

Jill

Almost exactly the recipe my Grandmother used as well - and she was
Irish/French/German. She would form it into oblong ball thingies
and free-bake them on a flat sheet. It is divine with strawberries and
ice cream - sprinkle a little cinnamon sugar on it. YUM!

-L.

On 2005-02-23, Victor Martinez penned:
Monique Y. Mudama wrote:
What defines a mole?

Mole comes from the nahuatl (the language spoken by the Mexica,
commonly-albeit-erroneously refered to as the Aztecs) molli, which means
"mixture". In theory, any sauce that has at least two key ingredients:
chiles and seeds/nuts. There is one exception called mole de olla, which is
a soup.

Neat! Learn something new all the time.

It seems like I tried a mole chili recipe (is that possible?) that involved
cocoa powder, and it was really not good. So bad, in fact, that I had to
have DH scrub the pot, because the smell triggered my gag reflex.

I would never eat a mole recipe that called for cocoa powder. A few mole
varieties do have chocolate in them, but unlike the common belief, it's not
a chocolate sauce, it's a chile sauce that happens to have a little
chocolate in it. It is wonderful!

I just checked, and the recipe did indeed call for both cocoa powder and
cinnamon. The book even says "A mole sauce is made with cocoa. But there are
so many complex seasonings in mole that the chocolate becomes transformed into
a new, unique flavor."

Well, maybe I screwed up the recipe somehow, but the end result of that recipe
when I attempted it (and it was very simple, just dump a bunch of ingredients
in the pot) was ick!

--
monique, who spoils Oscar unmercifully

pictures: http://www.bounceswoosh.org/rpca

On 2005-02-23, Victor Martinez penned:
Monique Y. Mudama wrote:
I wonder if it's rude to just call it pico. I'm not sure what the literal
translation is, and the spanish-to-english dictionary doesn't seem to be
much

Literal translation is "rooster's beak", pico being the beak. The salsa
itself (with chiles) we call "salsa mexicana" in Mexico.

Aha! "Beak" was the only word I remembered from my half-hearted attempt to
translate.

What do you mean by "salsa itself"? Oooh ... wait ... something's coming to
me. Just "salsa" just means sauce in Spanish, right? Okay, it all makes
sense now.

for example a waiter. I've always wondered if that would be welcome or
annoying. Hrm, I should ask 'em. Bet DH would love that ...

It depends on the person, I guess. I find it charming, sometimes amusing
depending on how bad the pronunciation is...

Yeah, I guess that makes sense. I imagine it would be annoying if you just
*looked* like you could speak Spanish, but you couldn't ...

My mom is German, with a thick accent. She got so sick of people asking her
where she's from that she now just answers "Alabama."

So, where did you say you lived and when am I welcome to be there? I'll
bring my own bowl and spoon!

I live in Austin, Texas and you are most welcome to visit anytime!

Oof, that's quite a drive. I'll have to cook something up ... er, no pun
intended!

.... maybe I should find out what Hatch chiles are first, and whether or
not I need to procure life insurance before tasting them.

They can be quite fiery. They're basically a variety of Anaheim peppers
grown in Hatch, New Mexico (famous for the chiles).

Ah. Well, enough tortillas and cheese can make any degree of spiciness work,
assuming it's not blasphemy or something to taint your green chile that way.

--
monique, who spoils Oscar unmercifully

pictures: http://www.bounceswoosh.org/rpca

"Monique Y. Mudama" wrote in message
...
On 2005-02-23, Jo Firey penned:
You guys are killing me here. I always make my own salsa in the summer
when
the tomatoes are good, but its February for crying out loud!

Diced tomatoes
Diced Red Torpedo onion
Diced Celery
Diced Green pepper
Diced Yellow bell pepper if available
Fresh jalapenos, seeded and chopped or canned jalapeno, seeded
Cilantro leaves

Put jalapeno in blender with a chopped up tomato or some tomato juice and
some garlic
Blend thoroughly.
Add cilantro and pulse blender enough to chop up the cilantro

dump blender contents into bowl with diced vegetables. Add hot sauce if
desired.

Did I mention I adore bell peppers, too? Sounds awesome! But what's a
red
torpedo onion? I take it it's more specific than just a red onion?


We get them in the hottest part of the summer and I think they are milder
and more flavorful than the red globe onions. Torpedo onions are large and
pointed on both ends rather than round. If I can't get them I usually use
white globe onions.

Jo

Monique Y. Mudama wrote:

Wait, I'm confused. I've bought cilantro, and it's a parsley-looking green
leafy thing. And then I have a bottle of coriander; it's a bunch of round
pellet-looking things, I think. *confused*

Here's a really delicious Medterranean recipe to make use of the
'pellets' :-) assuming they are the seeds. It's very easy to make, and
totally yummy. I tend to increase the quantities somewhat as it doesn't
really make enough for 2-3 as specified, more like 1-2! I would also say
it's essential to let the meat marinade overnight. I also fry the
marinade while cooking the meat, and pour it over the rice to serve,
seems a shame to waste it!

(It's taken from www.deliaonline.com)

Marinated Pork with Coriander

The Greeks call this traditional dish 'afelia'. If you have time to
leave the meat to steep overnight and for the flavours to develop, so
much the better.

Serves 2-3
1 thick pork fillet (12 oz/350 g after trimming), cut into bite-sized
cubes
2 heaped teaspoons coriander seeds, crushed
4 tablespoons olive oil
juice of 1 lemon
10 fl oz (275 ml) dry white wine
1 fat clove garlic, crushed
salt and freshly milled black pepper

You will also need a large frying pan.

Place the pieces of pork in a shallow dish and season them with salt and
freshly milled black pepper. Now pour 3 tablespoons of the oil over the
meat, followed by the juice of the lemon and 2 tablespoons of the white
wine (or cider). Then sprinkle in the crushed coriander seeds and the
garlic, and mix everything together. Cover the dish with a cloth and
leave it all to marinate overnight – or as long as possible – stirring
now and then.

To cook the pork, melt the remaining tablespoon of oil in the frying pan
and, when it's fairly hot, add the cubes of pork and cook them over a
medium heat, turning them and keeping them on the move. When they have
browned a little, pour in the rest of the white wine (or cider), let it
bubble and reduce to a syrupy consistency. The pork will take
approximately 10-15 minutes to cook altogether. Serve with rice and a
salad.


Here's a picture of coriander seeds, BTW:

http://www.ejwren.com/item85502.ctlg

HTH,
Deb.
--
http://www.scientific-art.com

"He looked a fierce and quarrelsome cat, but claw he never would;
He only bit the ones he loved, because they tasted good." S. Greenfield

"What defines a mole?"

Small furry animal who digs holes in the ground. ;o)

Helen M

Shirley wrote:
"Yowie" wrote in message
...
"Shirley" wrote in message
...
"Yowie" wrote in message
...

Mmm... I *love* Earl Grey, and like Lady Grey even better.

Blech! I have a packet of Earl Grey sat in a cupboard (unwanted
christmas pressie), would it be ok to post it to you?

If you want to post it to Australia (and its allowed through
customs) I
won't say no!

It's the customs part I'm not sure about :-) I guess the only thing to
do is ask at the post office and if they say it's ok you'll get a
small package from the uk.

LOL! I once sent a box of 79 cent grits (a ground corn product common in
the southern U.S.) to a woman in Australia. It cost me $5 to mail. They
held it in quarantine because it was a grain product and told her she'd have
to pay $40 to get the package. (One wonders why the $40 would make it more
"safe" to acquire.) She emailed me and said, "Sorry, I have to pass." I
wonder who at the customs office wound up eating grits?

Jill