miss louella's Profile
Help Me Teach My Cousin How to Cook
hmmm, your experience is wildly different from mine. I lived at about 7200' and never had a pressure cooker but always had great beans. What happens when you cook beans at altitude without a pressure cooker?
"Cooking" with a toddler?
My best advice here is to remember at that age cooking is still magic. When you see a magic show the kids are happy to hold a hat or something that seems trivial to adults. Cinnamon toast is transformational magic. PARTICIPATING is the key. Keep in mind that cooking with a kid will slow you down, not speed you up. Let him find his way. Ask him to do things you know he can do then slowly increase the difficulty. Here, time and attention are the key. Not the recipe outcome. Have a GREAT time. These will be hours you never get to do anew.
Everything I know about making corn tortillas from prepared masa
monopod, if you find the prepared masa, make sure to check with the folks who sell it about how long it lasts. Mine lasts for a week or two in the fridge. (Not sure how long it lasts because it seems like we're always running out.)
Everything I know about making corn tortillas from prepared masa
Mmmmm, was over on the what's for dinner thread and read this: http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/840330#7233265 ... sounds a lot like what you're talking about.
Everything I know about making corn tortillas from prepared masa
Yum, this sounds delicious! Do you soak the cornmeal in the boiling water or just mix and go?? Do let us know if you try making tortilla-like delights this way.
Everything I know about making corn tortillas from prepared masa
Thanks for the clarification... definitely no confusion on this one since the stores I'm buying at have labels in both English and Spanish. But I miiiiiiiiiiiight not have actually *read* preparado on my label. For sure it's wet, is for tortillas, and sticks like crazy if I haven't dried it out.
Thanks again!
Everything I know about making corn tortillas from prepared masa
Random, I haven't paid too much attention to the brand, but know I used La Finca and La Mexicana in the last two batches. This last batch I bought has a closer expiration date and this bag was dramatically drier than the ones next to it. (The masa did not stick to the inside of the bag and it had broken into two clumps. This would never happen with my "usual" masa.) I wonder if your masa is typically drier than mine is or if the wooden press helps?
I guess my main point for anyone who has trouble getting the pressed tortilla off of whatever it was pressed onto, to try letting the masa balls dry out before pressing.
I'm glad to hear parchment is working so well for you. My parchment adventures all ended with adult language. I wonder if the wooden press has anything to do with that?
As for size, my metal press lets me make tortillas as large as the press itself. I can't remember if I mentioned this in my original post, but I do place the masa ball just south of center to end up with a centered tortilla after the pressing.
Everything I know about making corn tortillas from prepared masa
Yes, sorry to be unclear. I did mean a tortilla press. Mine is cast aluminum and I LOVE it.
No doubt you're right on differences in brands. Here in northern CA I haven't found a dud brand yet, but there's still time. :-)
Everything I know about making corn tortillas from prepared masa
Thyme, sorry for the delay. Yes, the fresh masa in a bag is what I'm calling prepared masa. I like the prepared flavor much better, but must admit the liminess of the masa harina did not bother me so maybe my tastebuds aren't as attuned as your are. I haven't frozen the fresh kind, but have stored it for weeks (in the fridge) with no problems. I find the tortillas taste so much better when made at home that we use a LOT more than we ever did before.
Tell me more about your idea for using regular corn meal for tortillas... how are you planning to make them come together? I think corn meal and water alone would be a grainy mess, but maybe that's a failure of imagination on my part.
Sour Cherries
The Oakmont produce market in Mountain View has them. Don't remember the price though. The market's at Central AVE and Moffett Blvd. Good luck!
Everything I know about making corn tortillas from prepared masa
Soooo, I have been fussing with this for a long long time and though I still feel I have lots more learning to do, I thought now would be a good time to collect my thoughts and pass them along (in hopes that others would add to this and help me make even better torts).
Things I know:
--The very worst fresh tortilla I have ever made is MUCH better than the best store-bought I've ever purchased. (This is important to remember when you're scraping off a mis-shapen blob.)
--The masa preparado I can buy in Northern California is MUCH too wet to work with when fresh.
--that cheap little cast aluminum machina is worth its weight in gold when making tortillas
--it's quirky/difficult to get the griddle/cornal heat correct
So here's what I do--please let me know what YOU do!!!
1. trim a zip top freezer bag to fit my machina (leave a tongue to slide through the hinge area so the plastic stays where it's meant to be.
2. Form the masa in balls and let air dry for ~24 hours. (The balls should not be sticky to the touch. When I dry "too long," there's a darker splotch on my tortilla but the taste does not suffer.)
(I have now figured out I should do this when I buy the masa, and then put the dried balls in the fridge--I haven't tried this yet, but I believe it will give me much more flexibility in impromptu tortilla making.)
After your griddle is hot (hard to determine the right heat on someone else's stove, sorry):
3. Place the ball a little south of center on the machina.
4. Press down. (If you like thicker tortillas, feel free to stop pressing before the machina forces you to stop.)
5. Peel the tort off the top plastic piece--holding it in your other hand and then peel it off the bottom plastic. (If your masa wasn't really dry enough, this will be very difficult and frustrating. The VERY best thing to do here is wait until tomorrow. If tomorrow's not an option, it's easier to pull the plastic off a too wet tortilla than it is to peel a too wet tort off the plastic.)
6. lay the tort onto the griddle
Repeat steps until you have no more griddle space.
7. Flip torts
If they puff up you can be pretty sure they're ready to take off the griddle, but loooook... do they have that nice speckle look? You may have to taste here. (I did until I got it down.)
8. Place torts in a stack inside a nice clean folded dish towel. (This step helps them get more bendy--mine are pretty stiff when they come off the griddle.)
ENJOY!!!!
And please share what works for you!!!
Some place for Sunday lunch between SFO and Mt. View please
Well, this isn't exactly *between* SFO and Mountain View, but I love Ephesus on Castro in downtown Mt View. Luscious mediterranean food, very friendly servers and outdoor seating if that appeals.
How bad can green peppercorns in brine go?
fyi, the peppercorns did not harm us... though we both now know we prefer dried black peppercorns to brined green ones.
How bad can green peppercorns in brine go?
Thanks for the quick reply hotoynoodle! We've tried several of the black pepper kinds and they aren't quite what he's remembering so I thought I'd try this one.
Hopefully the special Leap Day surprise will be delighted taste buds, not something else. And based on your guess about flavorful, I'll up the amount. Thanks again!
How bad can green peppercorns in brine go?
I'm all set to make green peppercorn steak for dinner tonight, but realized my peppercorns in brine had an expiration date three years ago. I've never used green peppercorns, but a gal's gotta wonder... how bad can they go? I opened the can (which was not bulging) and it smells peppery in there. Two stores later, it's clear it's those old peppercorns or nothing.
Recipe calls for:
2T butter
1T oil
4 steaks
2 T shallots
2T canned green peppercorns
1T dijon
2T cream
Oh yeah, I'm not such a hot meat cook either--this was a special Leap Day surprise for my guy who loves Australian-style pepper steak. Sooooooo, what's a gal to do?
Thanks for any and all help!!
How can I transform my thighs?
I love thighs in this, but I love thighs in general. Have never done the butter drizzle and always bake on a cooling rack over a baking sheet. Crispy all around and deeeeeelish. (Not as crunchy as I'd like with the called-for breadcrumbs, I've got panko and some corn flakes stashed away for my next try.)
Would you care to share your favorite cornbread recipe?
I love this one too, but found it somewhat dry when I moved from over 7000 feet above sea level to about sea level. Where are you? Did I just mess it up when I came down from the mountains?
What's for Dinner #128 [old]
It's actually helping me get out of ruts... though my dinners haven't been anything super special, they're also not the "usual." I'm sure it helps that I'm loose with the lettering... potatoes become a B food because they're baked potatoes...
What's for Dinner #128 [old]
Today's dinner--in which C is the star, is somewhat appalling. We'll be eating in the car (letter appropriate but yikes!)--Dinner to include Chicken tenders oven fried ala this recipe: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Spicy-Oven-Fried-Chicken-103512 , Carrots, Cucumbers and Creamy (edamame) dip. Cookies for my guy.
Meal for 100+ for $300
They're great room temp. And would be super easy to parcel out to your pals who are helping. The dipping, coating, putting on the rack step can get kind of messy but it is otherwise a very easy and delicious way to bake chicken.
Meal for 100+ for $300
Does anyone know why opening this topic downloads a file called "meld.js" to my computer?
What's for Dinner #128 [old]
On the road to recovery after very indulgent V-day weekend, my guy and I are (now) eating the alphabet.
Yesterday was A is for asparagus and aoli night.
Today is B is for broccolini and baked potato night.
Tomorrow might be cauliflower? Or maybe couscous... Perhaps cauliflower couscous but that sounds too beige... maybe with some zatar included but not named...
(Don't worry, when this stops being fun (for me), we'll hop off the Reading Railroad.)
Meal for 100+ for $300
I have made this oven "fried" chicken recipe to glowing reviews: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Spicy-Oven-Fried-Chicken-103512
Don't know if your oven will be otherwise occupied but my eaters love this hot and/or room temp. And, obviously baking pans of chicken legs (which is all I've ever used with this recipe) is much more crowd-friendly than frying. (btw, the soak is definitely an important part of the process--make sure you have enough fridge room for soaking if you decide to go this way.)
Good luck to you!
What are you baking these days? February 2012 [old]
Do report back after you reduce the sugar even further. I am constantly reducing sugar and frequently adding some whole wheat pastry flour to desserts, but I'm not really a sweets gal. On V-day I told my guy I'd make him a cake that didn't even have a dash of "good for him" in it. :-)
I was happily surprised that the candied ginger softened up so much during baking.
What are you baking these days? February 2012 [old]
Yikes!!! And to think I paid good money for that "weed." Still love it in my garden. But yes, will definitely plant some flowers that are actually EDIBLE for the future. Thanks so much!!!
What are you baking these days? February 2012 [old]
The flowers are primula malacoides--um, not sure if they're edible or not but we took them off before diving in.
What are you baking these days? February 2012 [old]
Thanks katty! you made me laugh too! We skipped the strawberries since we'd had farmer's market berries and cream for dessert the night before. I'll try to attach a photo of my cake--if it works, you'll see it still has what I'm now calling that childlike charm. ;-)
edited to add: I forgot to mention I'd whipped some cream and folded lemon curd into it to make a sort of on-the-side frosting, but the cake was great without it. I think next time I'd add some lemon zest to the batter though.
What are you baking these days? February 2012 [old]
I made this epi double ginger sour cream cake last night: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Double-Ginger-Sour-Cream-and-Bundt-Cake-with-Ginger-Infused-Strawberries-352071. Half cup less sugar and it was great. Very pound cakey, moist and the ginger hit is strong. My guy loved the crunch of the sugar on the outside and I loved not frosting it (since my cakes always look like a troll decorated them).
Pearl onion sightings?
Not sure where you're located, but the Oakmont Produce store at the corner of Central AVENUE and Moffett Blvd (in Mountain View) had them yesterday.
