Text 28132, 140 rader
Skriven 2012-08-12 07:39:00 av DAVE DRUM (1:261/1381)
     Kommentar till en text av RUTH HAFFLY
Ärende: Mexican
===============
-=> Ruth Haffly wrote to Dave Drum <=-

 DD> I went and looked at their web site. The nearest stores to me are
 DD> Chicago (where I go only if landing at their aerodrome, changing

 RH> Thought you lived in a big enough place to have one local. I think our
 RH> nearest one is in Raleigh. There are several non chain Mexican places
 RH> in/around Wake Forest so we usually hit up one of them.

We are, no doubt, big enough. But, there are things in other semi-nearby towns
which I think would probably do well here ... that aren't here. Like in
Bloomington, IL, which, with its sister city [they're joined at the city
limits] is about the same size as Spring-A-Leak, there is a Fresh Market AND a
Whole Foods. Also a number of Latino bodegas and supermercados and a couple
really nice Asian specialty grocers. None of which Springfield has. We used to
have a *very* nice Asian market, run by some Vietnamese boat people (literally,
the family escaped to the Philippines across the South China Sea in "a leaky
old boat"). But, their building, stock and rolling stock for their growing
wholesale business was destroyed by the March 2006 F2 tornadoes which ripped
the city. The site literally was scoured clean. I understand that they took the
insurance settlement and erected their new tent closer to their major customers
in the St. Louis Metro area. I miss them more than anything else that got taken
out be that storm.

 DD> town and they eventually pulled down their building to build an MCL
 DD> Cafeteria on the site.

 RH> So what's an MCL Cafeteria?

 DD> http://www.mclhomemade.com/ourstory_history.cfm

 DD> I've eaten there a couple of times. It's a place my grandmother would
 DD> have adored. Or the Red Hat Ladies. The food is OK - but, I did quite
 DD> enough cafeteria style dining in high school and in the service to
 DD> more than last me for the rest of my life. Except for a nostalgic
 DD> visit to a Horn & Hardart if I ever get back to Noo Yawk Siddy and
 DD> there is one still in existence.

 RH> There's a very (!) popular cafeteria here in town. Their specialty is
 RH> southern cooking; not the most calory free. (G) They do a brisk
 RH> business on Sunday but a steady one the rest of the week as well. Nice
 RH> thing about on Sunday is that they do it as a (one time thru) buffet
 RH> line to save the time an employee would spend dishing up the food and
 RH> handing it to you. The line is open on both sides of the steam tables
 RH> so people move thru at a good pace.

We only have the one cafeteria - when they moved from White Oaks Maul to their
purpose-built location they promptly doubled (and retained) their customer
count. We only have one non-Oriental buffet restaurant in a Metro area of
nearly 200K. And the Chesapeake Seafood House (www.chesapeakeseafoodhouse.com/)
does a Monday-Friday lunch buffet for U$6.75 - which is an occasional stop for
me.
 
 DD> My favourite is Los Agaves (http://www.losagavesspringfield.com/) -
 DD> well, they are back to being my favourite since La Loma folded its

 RH> Haven't heard of either of those either. Found out (after we ate) that
 RH> the place we went to serves hortchata, but as Steve said, with the
 RH> sugar in it, it's now a "no-go" for me. Guess we'll have to try making
 RH> a stevia version.

Reading through the recipe it doesn't look hard to sub in an artificial
sweetener. It also doesn't look like anything I'd get excited over -- although,
as with most things I'd give it a try if offered.

-- SNIPPETY --
 
 DD> but, there. And all tables have a bottle of Tapatio, one of Cholula,
 DD> the two El Yucatecos ... red and green, both habanero based. That is
 DD> what I suspect that was in the place you visited. (www.elyucateco.com)

 RH> I'm pretty sure it was; I've seen them on the table in other Mexican
 RH> places. Just couldn't remember the name. interesting tho, that the
 RH> green is hotter than the red. We went to a little Mexican place outside
 RH> of Las Cruces one time and Steve ordered something with red chilies, I
 RH> ordered something with green. My green chili whatever it was, was
 RH> much(!) hotter than Steve's red. I don't remember if we traded plates
 RH> part way thru or not.

 DD> Oddly the green is noticeably hotter than the red - go figger.

 RH> Generally, but not always, it's the other way around.

It's pretty universal, I have found in Latino food that rojo ranges from warm
to pretty hot. And verde seems to range from "oh, boy!" to "yee-hah!" for the
most part.
 
 DD> I first learned of that phenomenon in Inglewood, Califunky back in the
 DD> early 1960s. I was in a nice Mexican Restaurant (whose name escapes
 DD> me) and hadn't yet learned that chilli is *NOT* a truly Mexican dish.
 DD> So, I saw chile on the menu - in both rojo and verde versions. Being
 DD> an almost total naif in things Mexican I saw chili ... thought in my
 DD> mind "red is hot, let's go for the green".
 DD> Hooooooo boy, howdy!

 RH> Whoops! Figured wrong there, didn't you? (G)

Yes'm. I did. But, unlike a New Englander or a Republican I am capable of
learning.  Bv)=
 
MMMMM----- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.06

      Title: Horchata
 Categories: Five, Latino, Beverages, Rice
      Yield: 7 Servings


      1 c  Long-grain white rice;
           - rinsed
      1    Mexican cinnamon stick; 
           - broken in pieces, plus
           - more for garnish
    1/2 c  Sugar; to taste
      8 c  Water; divided
      1 tb Ground cinnamon; garnish

  Recipe courtesy Aaron Sanchez for Food Network Magazine

  Combine the rice and cinnamon stick with 4 cups water in a
  blender; pulse to coarsely grind. Transfer to a large bowl
  and add another 4 cups water; soak at room temperature for
  3 hours.

  Puree the rice mixture in a blender in batches until
  smooth. Strain through cheesecloth or a fine sieve into a
  pitcher. Mix in the sugar; chill.

  Stir the horchata well before serving. Pour into
  ice-filled glasses; garnish with cinnamon sticks and
  a dusting of ground cinnamon. 

  From: http://www.foodnetwork.com

  Uncle Dirty Dave's Archives

MMMMM

... The truth is more important than the facts. - Frank Lloyd Wright
--- MultiMail/Win32 v0.49
 * Origin: www.holo.homeip.net:   -telnet://holo.homeip.net (1:261/1381)