Mexican/Tex Mex Food.

[Gerardo]

Originally Posted by Deborah

Thanks ! Waving hello from North County ! But I grew up in Chula Vista.

I used to work on Twin Oaks, know the area well. Wave back from the south!

[coronabarb]

And I used to be in...Corona <surprise!> My aunt and uncle lived in Chula Vista some years ago and I used to drive through San Marcos on the 78 on my way to my dad's. He was closer to Oceanside. Nice areas when it is not burning. Gosh, they had some doozies in the Fallbrook area.

[Deborah]

Small world ! I was just on Twin Oaks the other day. Barb, maybe he lived in Vista?
About that I "devour" my buttered tortilla snacks... that didn't sound terribly ladylike, did it? Must have been a typo because I meant that I NIBBLE at them...

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by Deborah

Small world ! I was just on Twin Oaks the other day. Barb, maybe he lived in Vista?
About that I "devour" my buttered tortilla snacks... that didn't sound terribly ladylike, did it? Must have been a typo because I meant that I NIBBLE at them...

The proper term is Wolfed Down.

Worth

[jillian]

Lord have mercy after checking out this thread I am salivating. If I had to live on one cuisine for life it would definitely be authentic mexican. I must try some of these recipes!

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by jillian

Lord have mercy after checking out this thread I am salivating. If I had to live on one cuisine for life it would definitely be authentic mexican. I must try some of these recipes!

I always joke about Purina coming of with different (Chow's) for people.
Basically stereotyping the people around the world and the US.
In reality some very big companies do this.
This ranges from Texas BBQ flavor, Cajun with red pepper and so on.
Look at the Hawaiian style stuff it is as though all they eat is Pineapple.
A Polynesian guy asked me what Purina Hawaiian Chow would be and I told him pineapple and spam flavor.
He thought it was pretty funny.
This is why in this thread I have tried to put a few things in it that aren't stereotypical of our region.
If you go into a Mexican meat market here you will find stacks of chicken feet.
You will not find chicken feet in a Tex Mex restaurant.
Most if not all of the German restaurants here serve what is expected of them.
I asked a woman at one why they didn't serve something anymore and she said she loved it but people wouldn't eat it.
Basically the only people that ate it was the German folks that ran the place and me so they had to stop buying it.
It was a Braunschweiger sandwich.

Worth

[Deborah]

Worth, I'm pretty sure I meant nibbling. In fact, DAINTILY NIBBLING.

[coronabarb]

We ate Braunschweiger sandwiches a lot when I was a kid. I thought they were pretty tasty.

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by Deborah

Worth, I'm pretty sure I meant nibbling. In fact, DAINTILY NIBBLING.

Deborah my family was very strict with our dining manners, very strict.
My sister in the back seat of the car on the way home from church said, "I cant wait to get home and dig in."
At 50 miles an hour my father drove the car and beat the tar out of her at the same time.
He told her, "You dont dig in, you eat like a civilized human being."
She was always getting in trouble at the table for gulping, slurping, belching spilling tea, eating with her hands, making scraping noises with the silverware on the plate or saying something stupid.
I loved it.

Originally Posted by coronabarb

We ate Braunschweiger sandwiches a lot when I was a kid. I thought they were pretty tasty.

Barb go to the store and get some, make a sandwich with sliced sweet onion, tomato and mayonnaise with a spot of mustard.
Bring back some memories.
Have a jalapeno salsa and chips on the side and call it Deutsch-Mex.
My mother and I were the only ones to eat it at home.

Worth

[SharonRossy]

ok i live in montreal, i'm lebanese and I love tex-mex or whatever it's called. I love cooking and want that recipe for flour tortillas. I've never tried to make them. Growing up, my mother and grandmother made arabic bread,what everyone calls pita,but our were thicker with a pocket that would open up when baked in a hot gas oven or wood burning oven. We'd slather it with butter, it was so delicious.
So Mexican, Tex Mex, whatever, share those recipes. Mind you I'm currently in Italy where I have had some amazing pizza and pasta dishes to faint for. Eggplant parmesan, meatballs, how can you go wrong?

[Worth1]

Well hoot.
Homemade flour tortillas from a mix.
Fresh fried tortilla chips.
Fresh salsa.
Fresh homemade refried beans.
Worth
IMG_20151022_14360.jpg

[Gerardo]

Originally Posted by Worth1

Well hoot.
Homemade flour tortillas from a mix.
Fresh fried tortilla chips.
Fresh salsa.
Fresh homemade refried beans.
Worth
Attachment 53993

Very nice. May I suggest Skirt steak in the middle.

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by Deborah

Worth ! I'm drooling ! Your address is...?

Originally Posted by Gerardo

Very nice. May I suggest Skirt steak in the middle.

Thanks guys.
While we are waiting on Gerardos instructions for flour tortillas I will put in my two cents worth.

From years of research I have found that there are two ways to make the things.
With and without baking powder.
What the dough is in reality is very close to pie dough but with a little more water and less fat.
I personally feel the white wings tortilla mix I use has too much baking powder in it.
But I dont buy it to make tortillas I add a little more baking powder and it makes a fantastic biscuit or even pancakes.
The only way I can make a tortilla is with a rolling pin I have never been able to get one thin enough by hand.
With the rolling pin it has to be so thin you can almost see through it.

You also have to let the dough sit long enough after you have kneaded it to let the gluten start to work just like you would bread.
It has to be elastic.
This takes about 15 minutes.
To make an averaged sized tortilla I make a ball of dough about the size of a golf ball and roll it out on the bench.
Keep plenty of bench flour on hand so you can do this.
When you have it rolled out very thin when you lift it up it will spring back some.
Put it on a hot griddle or skillet when it bubbles up flip it.
Get the skillet to hot and it will burn.
I always preheat my cast iron skillets for around 30 minutes before I use them for anything.
When the handle is hot it is ready to use.

That's about all I can tell you.


Worth

[Gerardo]

Originally Posted by Worth1

Thanks guys.
While we are waiting on Gerardos instructions for flour tortillas I will put in my two cents worth.

From years of research I have found that there are two ways to make the things.
With and without baking powder.
What the dough is in reality is very close to pie dough but with a little more water and less fat.
I personally feel the white wings tortilla mix I use has too much baking powder in it.
But I dont buy it to make tortillas I add a little more baking powder and it makes a fantastic biscuit or even pancakes.
The only way I can make a tortilla is with a rolling pin I have never been able to get one thin enough by hand.
With the rolling pin it has to be so thin you can almost see through it.

You also have to let the dough sit long enough after you have kneaded it to let the gluten start to work just like you would bread.
It has to be elastic.
This takes about 15 minutes.
To make an averaged sized tortilla I make a ball of dough about the size of a golf ball and roll it out on the bench.
Keep plenty of bench flour on hand so you can do this.
When you have it rolled out very thin when you lift it up it will spring back some.
Put it on a hot griddle or skillet when it bubbles up flip it.
Get the skillet to hot and it will burn.
I always preheat my cast iron skillets for around 30 minutes before I use them for anything.
When the handle is hot it is ready to use.

That's about all I can tell you.


Worth

Sounds like you don't need much instruction. Life and work have been getting in the way of the tortilla tutorial, but I hope to squeeze it in this weekend. Back to the salt mine.

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by Gerardo

Sounds like you don't need much instruction. Life and work have been getting in the way of the tortilla tutorial, but I hope to squeeze it in this weekend. Back to the salt mine.

Thanks.
I am going to put my foot in it now and we will see what happens fail or no fail.
What I have done is I have mixed up about 5 table spoons of lard with 1 teaspoon of salt and 2 cups of flour.
((((NO Baking Powder.))))
This has been mixed with a pastry bender by hand until it was like corn meal.
I then added about 1/4 cup of water to make a dough ball I could work by hand and not be sticky.
I kneaded it for about 5 minutes and it is now going to rest for 15 minutes.
The skillet is warming as we speak.
It may end up being a big cracker we shall see.
If it is garbage I will say so.

I just made it up and have no idea if it will turn out.

Worth