lather, rinse, repeat

Cooking is a lot like following the instructions on shampoo and conditioner bottles, for some people it doesnt matter how many times they have done it they still read the directions, I am not one of those people. I read the instructions for all kinds of shampoos then I dont follow any of the directions, I use them as guidelines. Lets use cake mix as an example, I know without looking at a box of ready made cake that it takes an egg or two a third of a cup of oil or some butter and about a cup of liquid, you mix a few minutes and then it goes in a 350 degree F oven for 25-30 minutes, roughly, and I havent made a cake mix since I was a kid. I cook by the seat of my pants mostly, so when banana said "can you make romeritos" I instinctually said "no problem, what is it?" Then I said, "dont tell me, just tell me how to spell 'romeritos' and I will find out"....This is what I did:



Acquired and cleaned some cactus paddles (nopales) and I have a needle stuck in my thumb to prove it.



I toasted some dried shrimp, then pulverized them to dust in the processor.



The dried shrimp powder was mixed in some beaten egg whites.



I couldnt find romeritos, which is a vegetable that is similar to spinach in texture but not in flavor, so I substituted spinach and I boiled potatoes. The spinach was blanched the nopales were cubed and boiled.




The 'tortas de camaron' were fried up.



Usually this is put in a casserole dish and layered alternately with mole and the veggies and the tortas until the dish is full. I thought it would be nicer as indivdual servings.



So I made individual servings, over and over again, a torta, a slice of potato, a little spinach, some nopales and a drizzle of mole, then repeat.



They made me like mole, [ (mole -a) Long sounding a] I usually dont like mole.



They went fast! Go here if you want to see where the gigot du goat came from, warning - it is graphic.