Culinary Conversations

[worth1]

I'll be firing up the cast iron wok this weekend.
Lots of exciting and spicy dishes.
In the mix will be raw Spanish peanuts toasted in oil like they do in Asia.
Napa cabbage.
Beef.
Chicken.
Green onion.
Red onion.
Pablano chilies.
Serrano chilies.
Chile de Arbol.
Habanero oil.
Saki.
Much much more.

[Sue_CT]

I just discovered and fell in love with Thai chilis. I had seen them but never tried them until recently. Always liked Pablanos and Serranos, I grow them both, and Chili de Arbols put most of the heat in my chili powder when I make it. Have fun!

[pepperhead212]

@Sue_CT With all those peppers I use, Thai peppers are the ones I use the most! The Indian Jyoti I include with them - basically the same. Fresh green and red, and countless dried ones. There is more flavor than in some others that are similar - I've grown some others in the cayenne group with almost no flavor, just heat! I grind these up in small batches to use as cayenne pepper, but mostly I use them whole in Indian, Chinese, and other Asian foods, and in place of chile de árbol, in Mexican, as well as in jars of pickles. And I get 2 or 3 harvests a year from jyoti and Thai vesuvius. I tried a new, small one last year - Meteor - that didn't flower until late August, so definitely not a keeper.

[Sue_CT]

I am really enjoying the Thai peppers. I am going to make one dish again soon with shrimp, herb butter and spagetti with them. There was only one thing I didn't think they really went with, can't remember what it was exactly right now, but I think something TexMex. I stopped in at a local market called Asia Market. I swear. ethnic markets are so much better bargains than the usual grocery stores! I picke up a dozen small Tai peppers and they charged me .12! Then I picked up some limes that were 3/2.00 at the grocery story were 3/1.00 there. I stopped for limes and peppers and my total bill was 1.12!

-Do you know, can I buy a bunch and just throw them in bag in the freezer and take one or two out at a time and chop it up and throw it in something?

I noticed that the ones I had been getting were some of the smallest of the variety so I picked out the small ones in the market while I was there too. Is there any difference in heat or flavor in the smaller ones as opposed to the larger ones? They were all in one bin together, but some were 1 1/2-2 times the size of what I had been using.

[pepperhead212]

You don't have to try to sell me on the bargains in those ethnic stores! When I first set up my kitchen, in early '84, I used to take trips up to NYC (about 80 mi from here), and visit the grocers in all the ethnic neighborhoods (back then, even Philly didn't have much, besides the Italian market, and a small Chinatown). That's where I got a lot of my kitchenware, too, things I often couldn't find elsewhere. And supermarkets had nothing, back then, around here.

Those Thai peppers freeze well, green or red. I usually dehydrate my first harvest, then freeze some of the second harvest that ripens, then all the later green ones - this way, they are in the freezer less time. Like Mexican cuisine, India uses mostly green fresh, and red dried, so I freeze more green Thai peppers, which I use for those dishes, too.

The Thai peppers I use are mostly about 2½-3" x a little over 1/4". They have more flavor, IMO, than the smaller Thai birds, which are hotter, but less flavor.

Another pepper I grow for SE Asian food is an orange one, called Hanoi Market. I have bought some orange ones in the markets, but they didn't taste the same; this has the flavor of Bulgarian Carrot, but slightly smaller, and milder. Great flavor, but the only two I know with the flavor.

[Sue_CT]

Need to stop back in there and I will pick up some of the larger ones, too, and compare them. Going to pick up a good handful and throw them in the freezer. Thanks!

[worth1]

I looked at my local store and they are 4 ounces for $4.10.
That's $12.30 a pound.
Not gonna happen.
I think that's why most of the Asian all you can eat restaurants around here use serrano chiles.

[Sue_CT]

Wow. I will check what the cost per lb is there. They are so small that a dozen probably didn't weigh much at all. I don't think he even bothered, just charged a penny a piece.

[worth1]

Wow. I will check what the cost per lb is there. They are so small that a dozen probably didn't weigh much at all. I don't think he even bothered, just charged a penny a piece.

These come in a container so you are stuck.
Asian market in Austin too far out of the way unless I make a list of things I need there and go after work.
I could take the Lamar exit off 183 heading home and it would only be about 6 total miles there and back on track.
The place is huge and in China Town.
They even have black slinned chickens.

[karstopography]

I miss going to the Asian oriented Markets in Southwest Houston. Never have I seen such vegetables and seafood like that. Driving 55 miles out of my way to grocery shop is not something that makes any sense to me, though.

[Sue_CT]

I don't have many such markets near me, this is the only one I am aware of in 1 or 15 miles. It is small, no fresh meat or seafood, but produce, canned and dry goods. I have known for some time even in grocery stores the same spice will be a fraction of the price in the international isle/section as it is in the spice isle.

[worth1]

I think I mentioned serrano chiles here.
I was at the grocery store today and bought 3 serrano chile pepper plants $1.59 each.
They are smallish so I'll keep them in the containers to grow more before planting out.
That way no worries about a late freeze.
I can get serrano chiles at the store cheap but not red ripe ones.

[karstopography]

$1.59 for a single set these days is pretty good. Reifels is up to $2.00/set. Lowe’s about $4/set.

I need a serrano and a jalapeño plant or two. Reifels had both the other day, but they had too many aphids on them. Lowe’s basically let’s everything die so if you don’t get there when the truck drops them off, then they’ll be dead by the middle the next day. Plus, $4/set is too much for me to spend.

I’ve got a lot of chile sets to plant, but not the staples like jalapeño or serrano. I don’t usually put in chili peppers until about now through the end of March.

[worth1]

I don't see any point in setting mine out any time soon.
They are in good sized little 4×3 1/2 inch pots and have plenty of room to grow.
Right now they are only about 6 inches tall.

[worth1]

I guess I'm going to grow basil again this year.
I made a ton of pesto with nuts not pine nuts and I can't find it in my freezers to save my life.
Pine nuts taste like kerosene or paint thinner to me as they should.
They can get turpentine from pine trees.
That nasty flavor always comes in at what is called the back end of a taste.

[Old chef]

try making pesto with Pistachio. Sicilian style

[pepperhead212]

I have done that, and it is delicious. I have refused to pay the high prices of pine nuts for decades.

[karstopography]

I’ve halfheartedly tried to forage for pinyon nuts in Northern New Mexico. Timimg on year and month have to be right. There’s several species out there. Most of what we get in the stores are Siberian or the Chinese types. I’ve splurged a time or two on the roasted in the shell pinyons from New Mexico when there. Gosh, they are great!

@worth1 There’s actually a small indigenous population of Texas pinyon trees in Real and Uvalde counties, near Leakey, TX. I’ve seen the trees myself and they are indeed pinyon pine, not a Juniper.

https://www.backyardnature.net/n/w/txpinyon.htm

https://pinenut.com/pine-nuts/pinon-pinyon-nuts.shtml

[worth1]

I'm beginning to wonder what my neighbors eat.
Every time I bring up something they don't like it.
Or more importantly they have never heard of it ((and)) don't like it.
I noticed this from the mother an now its her son which is the same age as me.
Don't like fish don't like tamales don't like Mexican food never heard of most vegetables.
I told the guy you can't say you don't like Mexican food.
Mother was raised in North Dakota.
Is everyone like that up there?

[karstopography]

How much of People’s tastes are cultural, how much of it is learned, or what role do genetics play, inquiring minds would like to know.

A lot of children, maybe the majority, hate many of the vegetables, but it seems like some of those people never grow out of that when they become adults.

I’ve been to South Dakota. I thought it was lovely. Definitely not overpopulated. I was in part of the state with numerous ponds and planted wind breaks, plus expansive agricultural fields. The area teemed with waterfowl, upland game birds, and deer. Seems like a lot of folks had roots in Scandinavia and Germany. Maybe your neighbors stick to their cultural roots and eat things their parents ate.

I have scoffed at how limited some of my fellow Texans diets are. Vegetables they would eat would be limited to corn, potatoes, and beans. They will eat a piece of beef battered and incinerated and maybe fried chicken, possibly some barbecue, rinse and repeat. My cousin would eat a hamburger with only meat or meat and cheese, maybe a bit of ketchup. But, I like familiar flavors and circle back to the foods I like again and again. Maybe the unadventurous eaters are just into stuff they know they like. My wife says why are you watching “The Godfather” again, haven’t you seen that like 100 times? Yes, I say, and I like it every time, too.