The food thread

[nezbleu]

This is pretty good, if a little sweet:
http://justuscoffee.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/Individual_Product_Images/spicy_label.JPG

 

[Cal Weldon]

Well a GOOD Jalapeno has distinctive flavor, not at all like a bell pepper.

I was really referring to the Scoville units not the actual taste.

Not very hot, but flavorful.

Jalapenos are an ok flavour. Easy to control and cook with.

Those light green skinny things that have no flavor at all for example.

I'm not sure what pepper to which you refer but I find every pepper has it's own character. The Habanero family for example have a very distinctive flavour for those first few milliseconds before your face spontaneously combusts. I like using them in vinegar based sauces rather than fresh. The Red Savinas I have only take about a half dozen peppers for 500ml of sauce. It, in turn though, doesn't match the Trinidad Scorpion by a long shot, but I have no use for that.

 

[evanc]

For all of those who like the habanero you need to try Marie Sharps.
There carrot and habanero, Nopal/Prickly Pear GREEN Habanero, and orange grapefruit sauce are all great. The heat is there, but tempered. Try them, read the ingredients, and in true DIY spirit replicate at home.

 

[regiregi22]

I have seen it in every supermarket, but never dared to try it, it doesn't make sense to me to have that flavour on a chocolate bar :S

Lindt - Lindt Excellence Chili Bar

 

[sofaspud]

+1
Actually, I'd never heard of it til now.

 

[jacco vermeulen]

Do a search, type : Mexico, chocolate, chipotle.

Chipotle chocolate is common as muck there, just not the best of chocolates, nor a prime chili type.

Me like chicken with chocolate & chili pepper sauce (+ achiote/annatto paste) very mucho.

 

[sofaspud]

That is what surprises me so. I'm in San Antonio, sometimes known as "the northernmost city in Mexico,"* and I've never even heard it mentioned.

* with apologies to the Logic Puzzle thread

 

[regiregi22]

Me like chicken with chocolate & chili pepper sauce (+ achiote/annatto paste) very mucho.

Would you be so kind to post a recipe?

 

[SY]

Look for "mole" recipes, especially brown mole. Here's an example from one of the masters of Mexican cooking:

Recipes from Chef Rick Bayless - Rick Bayless | Frontera

 

[jacco vermeulen]

Mole poblano (e.g. with chicken)

 

[Lavcat]

I researched Mole recipes last fall but gave up when I learned the preparation took days, and the ingedients were said to be hard to find (hard to find in Mexico, that is). However I found an easy Mexican recipe for almond chicken and added one of the Lindt Chili Bars to it. Very good indeed.

But now if you will excuse me I have to return to the preparation of my Chicken Mechoui for dinner tonight.

 

[Wavebourn]

Cookies for tea break, in simple 12 steps.

1. Melt 1/2 cup of butter
2. Add 1/2 cup of brown sugar
3. Add 1 cup of almond flour
4. Add 1 cup of non-bleached flour
5. Add 1/2 cup of semolina
6. Add 2 eggs
7. Ad 2 tea spoons of Amaretto liqueur
8. Mix thoroughly
9. Roll balls of walnut size
10. Place them about 1" apart on baking sheet
11. Bake 10-12 minutes in 400F oven
12. Enjoy!

 

[popilin]

Sounds delicious, pity that neither I nor my oven know that what is 400F

 

[Cal Weldon]

400°F is usually about 4/5 the way the way there, no matter what your home oven.

Cheers.

 

[popilin]

4/5 has more sense for me than 400F, my oven just says Min-Med-Max, its older than me but still works !
Thanks Cal

 

[regiregi22]

Today I'm gonna make Pad thai, any experiences or recommendations?

Pad Thai - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[SY]

You will find no two Pad Thai dishes to be the same, it's a rather generic thing. I like to use tamarind and lime juice for the sour and palm sugar for the sweet. Use very fresh cold bean sprouts at the very end; they aren't cooked in order to give a texture and temperature contrast. Crushed roasted peanuts, NOT peanut butter! I found a vegetarian Worcestershire sauce (Bulldog) that substitutes for the fish sauce. Thai bird chiles perk things a bit, and a squirt or two of Sriracha during the stir frying gives a nice color.

 

[scott wurcer]

I researched Mole recipes last fall but gave up when I learned the preparation took days, and the ingedients were said to be hard to find (hard to find in Mexico, that is). However I found an easy Mexican recipe for almond chicken and added one of the Lindt Chili Bars to it. Very good indeed.

But now if you will excuse me I have to return to the preparation of my Chicken Mechoui for dinner tonight.

I managed Diana Kennedy's recipe 30yr. ago, but we have (had) a small Mexican community with a good shop. She does mention that it takes a village to make one. I did the whole turkey thing, lots of work.

Her first book is essential, though my Texan friends think "that's not Mexican food".

 

[Cal Weldon]

Crushed roasted peanuts

Put your peanuts in a plastic bag and use a rolling pin.

 

[SY]

That works. I use a crab mallet or the flat side of my cleaver.