coming soon

We are still in the land of enchantment but we will be back in the big apple on the first and I have been trying to figure out how I am going to post about the 15 days and tons of pictures. Knowing me I will work in some non- sequiter sort of way that only makes sense to me. I will tell you that I found a 200 million year old(give or take a few dozen million)fossil of a mussel shell the other day, yup New Mexico was a sunny beach resort millions of years ago.

Happy New Year.

driving

Taos today, and let me tell you we almost made a big mistake. We were on the 'main' road when we encounterd 'police activity' that meant we had to sit in the car on the road for an hour. Impatient tourists like we are we decided to take the 'other road'. We drove back for 20 minutes and into the mountains for an hour as the 'highway' got more and more narrow. When the horse track we were driving on was covered in frozen and packed snow it seemed like we better turn back and check on that 'police incident' and probably take the 'big' road. Trust me I will post photos in january when we get back. Anyway we made it to Taos and it is like a winter-wonder-land. We are staying at (the wifi says sungod) I forgot its sun god something and its nice and we already used the hot tub (under the stars and in the snow)....

land of enchantment

Our last visit was over a year ago. Its winter and its Christmas so there will be penty of new things for the little guy to see and do. This holiday season in New Mexico is spectacular as far as I'm concerned. We will eat plenty of chile. Visit plenty of pueblos. Enjoy the archtecture. And bask in the beauty of the landscape....but I think my favorite is going to be eating tons of chile.

And when you order both red and green its called "Christmas Style" or "a la Navidad"

Some have refered to this style as "wet" but in New Mexico it is typically called 'smothered'.

This guys blog covers a lot of resturants I might just have to checkout. I got the burrito picture from there.

last one

with a twist

I had a large can of lump crabmeat, I had a pound of well sprouted bean sprouts I had a bag of potato chip crumbs, what did I do? I made crabcakes. These are great on a salad of water cress dressed with olive oil, lime, salt and pepper. They are also good with your favortie mayonaise like a chipotle mayo or wasabi mayo and eaten in a sandwich. They are also good when you grab em' right off the draining rack and eat them plain just like that.

The hardest part is not eating hands full of the crab. This crabmeat was exceptionally good, no 'things' that I needed to pick out and uniform, although small, lumps through out. I recommend buying this rather than plucking it all out yourself, saves you from hurt and tired fingers, I have done it and even though it is cheaper to do it yourself you have to weigh the value.

Lets see...........................

For example.

If not....then......................

eat this...........

buffalo you included.

santa crowd

Santas as far as the eye could see. At first the surreal nature of this was perplexing but as the number of elves and santas and santa pimps grew it was beyond perplexing it was surreal. There were bad santas, female santas, transgender santas, drunk santas every single kind of santa that a santa enthusiast could imagine, and then many unimaginable.









I later found out it is part of Santacon.com.

jimmy crack corn

chile eggs, we eat them all the time.

20 years ago

I used to do a lot of sports style modeling, more like equipment modeling when I was younger. I used to put on all the provided gear and then 'engage' in the activities related to the equipment while being photographed. This 'engaging' was repititious, I would have to do things over and over again and if that wasnt enough if I did it in a way that was 'good' then I had to try and do it that way over and over again. I was cleaning out some files the other day when I ran across this 1987 catalogue for Cannondale bicycles. I had to ride this wheelie off this rock in Central Park so many times I lost count. I ended up not only getting paid but they gave me a brand new 12 speed racing bike a Canondale 6oo in red-which I still have, and still ride. I guess I am realizing that time has passed and there is only the present and hopefully the future but the past is only a memory. It seems like just yesterday but it was so many yesterdays ago.

Goûter - To taste

A goûter (pronounced goo- tay) is the snack that all children in France have at 4pm. Believe it or not this is a very popular afternoon snack among French children, a chunk of baguette with a bar of chocolate in the middle! If that seems excessive, get hold of a jar of Nutella - chocolate spread - as a good alternative. Every single person in almost everywhere is familiar with Nutella.

Well since I had no chocolate and we are on a nutella break- and by the way I like my goûter with unsalted butter spread on the baguette first then the milk chocolate - I went for mexican cream and raspberry jam. I heat up the jam in the microwave for a couple seconds to loosen it up. "Alternatives include a cake from the local delicatessen, a biscuit, even fruit if you have compliant children." (the previous quote was brought to you by the food pyramid) As far as I can tell there is an alarm clock built in to the heads of children that rings at 4pm to remind them it is time for a goûter. Any other meal can be delayed indefinitely with no consequence but the danger of missing a goûter is simply not to be considered. Well it must be the same for little New York kids as well. You can see the 'flurry' in which this was prepared....hardly a clean presentation.

skirt the issue

( I deleted the diagram deciding it was more graphic than meat)
A skirt steak has much more marbling than a flank steak and as a result, it is more juicy and very flavorful. It can be prepared with almost any type of cooking method, but it should be marinated first if using a dry heat cooking method such as grilling or broiling. The skirt steak is also known by the following names: Outside Skirt Steak, Inside Skirt Steak, Philadelphia Steak.

The flank steak, skirt steak or whatever you are comfortable calling it is a delicious cut of meat that can be prepared in a variety of ways the most common being fajitas or grilled. This is a braised dish that is later crunchified by blasting under the broiler just before serving.

Oh and sobrebarriga means the diaphragm or literally

'above the stomach' and 'a la brasa' means grilled

Sobrebarriga a La Brasa
(Colombian Style Skirt Steak)

6 ounces beer
1 medium onion chopped
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
1/2 green pepper, seeded and chopped
1 cup water or broth
2 lbs skirt steaks, very lean, trimmed

In a large pot, combine everything but the steak and bring to a boil.
Add the meat, lower the heat, cover the pan, and simmer till very soft and tender--about 1 and 1/2 hours, depending on the thickness of the meat.
Pre-heat the broiler or prepare a charcoal fire.
Drain the meat well and grill it over charcoal or under the broiler, turning once, and just long enough and to heat it and give the outside a crispy texture.

Note: The meat can be cooked on the stove in advance as long as it is brought to room temperature before being grilled.

Serve this with a salad or with mashed potatoes or fried ripe plantains.

suave

What is it about 70 degrees fahrenheit....it is a magical number. All summer long I crank the AC hoping to get to seventy. All winter long I am pumping out the heat wishing it were seventy. Seventy the perfect temperature. Why? I'll tell you why, its suave.



Suave is cool if you can handle it. Sometimes suave has to take a back seat. Why? Tortilla soup thats why. Aint nuthin' suave about tortilla soup. Liquid-in this case its vegetable broth, chile, crispy corn tortillas and cheese ...I added cubed chicken...where is the suave now?

fry baby

The lure the draw the pull of hot oil is more than I can resist. I need to fry and why not its good. My excuse in the summer is that it is good for my skin since the sun and saltwater dry it out. My excuse for the winter is its good for my skin since the wind and cold dry it out. See I am covered as long as there is weather I will fry. I used to use shortening thinking it made a crisper crust and it drained faster but I was wrong it just cooled and left a film. I have been using oil now for quite some time and nothing is greasy, there is no film and it is not hydrogenated, it is healthier. So with my good health in mind it was time for some onion rings. I get what ever large onions I have and cut them thick into rings and dredge them in seasoned flour, you can use old bay or your favorite chili powder or curry, or just good ol' salt and pepper but dont salt the unfloured onions or they will sweat and sweating is not good for frying. Fully dusted they then get sloshed around in some beaten egg and then back into the flour sometimes I will repeat this step if I want a crustier crust. Shimmy off the excess and dip into 325 degree oil, turn them once, drain, salt while hot and eat.




Voila - onion rings. And now the kid likes em' too, its funny to watch evolution take place. He doesnt like onions but he likes onion rings????

like falling off a bridge

Nothing could be easier to make than a coconut macaroon, the recipe is on the bag of coconut and it is so simple, although I do alter it a bit. My big change - I beat the egg whites until stiff and then add it to the dry stuff. I think it makes a lighter cookie but I wouldn't know the difference because this is the only way I have done it. Oh plus I use less sugar since we dont eat too much of that and the coconut is sweetened anyway and I use vanilla flavor instead of almond since my vanilla is pure and the almond is an ester.



OK I dont do anything like the recipe but I do glance at it as a reference. Now there could be some debate over what is a Macaroon vs. a Macroon. From what I gather the Macroon does not have egg whites thus making the Macaroon part of the meringue family, but even this is debateable since some recipes call for egg whites and some for condensed milk, I say if you find one you like with ingredients you like then that is a good one and the one on the bag is perfect.



I did dip a few into an espresso dark chocolate that I concocted but the kid hated them and quite frankly so did I but I am sure without the espresso they would be great.