It was a good day in the kitchen for sure!

Lord hath mercy!

I added a tsp of kosher salt to the tortilla dough, let it rest 30 min after kneading for the flour to hydrate, and pressed them as thin as possible. I also found I was waiting too long to turn them, only need about 15 seconds before the first turn and 20-30 seconds before the next two. The results were like night and day in taste! Don't care what she says, if they don't inflate I will probably toss them. The ones that did inflate were softer, tender and soooo much better. The ones that never did were tougher and just not as good. The first batch I just didn't get what the hype was about a homemade tortilla. Now I get it. The thicker tougher one? I would rather have a store bought one. The ones that worked? Totally worth the effort! Can't wait to try the yellow corn tortillas.

Technique wise, I also found when I pressed them out, if I turned the tortilla over before each subsequent press in addition to turning it, they didn't stick to the plastic any where near as much when they got thin. If I didn't do that, I couldn't get them cleanly off the plastic so I had to make thicker ones.

I think the steam pressure required to elevate a thicker dough is more than what it produces. I don't know if it can be done with a tortilla that is too thick. Just a thought. I am writing all this down as much so I can access what I did as to help others that want to try, lol.

I also used 2 1/2 ounces of dough to get a 7-7 1/2 tortilla instead of the 2 ounces she used.

@Sue_CT
One of the men I work with Jose is 49 years old has two kids a little boy and a little girl.
He and his wife are teaching both how to cook.
They are wee little things losing their baby teeth.
His wife makes the corn tortillas with her hands not a press.
She is from Nicaragua and he is from Mexico.
They have a nice place but in the back yard they have the traditional outdoor kitchen like you see in many places in Mexico and beyond.
Complete with wood fired comal.
They don't always make their own tortillas.

Sometimes he sends me pictures and a text saying what it is.
Most of the time I have to translate or I just know what it is in Spanish naturally.
Here is his last one.
Are tacos de carne molida con salsa verde 3 chiles y 1/2 aguacate

I had a goodly amount of ground chuck that needed to be used up.
So I decided to make a small kettle of chili.
I don't think I've made the exact same chili twice just like chef Paul said about his cooking Cajun and Creole cooking.
Here is an example.
And also probably going to tick off every chli purest Texan alive.
Well I am a native Texan by many generations so I have the natural born right to do as I darn well please when it comes to our beloved State Dish Chili con carne.
And I'm not in any contest.
After dissecting my bulb fennel I took the bigger tougher stalks and used the peeler to remove the outer fibers.
Chopped them up and tossed them in the Chili because I didn't want to waste them.
Other select ingredients are.
Italian herb mix.
San Antonio chili powder. About 1/2 cup.
Cumin 2 teaspoons.
Knorr beef bullion powder for the salt 2 teaspoons
3 chilie de Arbols.
Water around 2 cups or so.
About 2 pounds of ground chuck.
Masa harina Amarillo 2 tablespoons mixed with water.
One whole strong cooking onion chopped fine.
I'll taste as the simmering goes on and I'll skim off the fat later.

Finally decided to use the pound of mushrooms i bought for 50% off to make mushroom ketchup.
This comes from the Townsend's series of colonial cooking videos.
I'm just going to cut the recipe in half.
I have everything but a limon and picked the bay leaf from the yard.
This will sit for 24 hours in the salt and bay leaves just out on the counter covered.

I haven't done this in years because it's such a pain to make.
And this one is new to me and totally made up.
The dish is chile relleno.
Aka stuffed peppers.
The batter is of my own invention and unlike the puffy egg type batter I don't like.
There are actually two styles the puffy egg and something like this one.
It's masa harina Amarillo.
Baking powder.
Egg.
Water.
Salt.
The stuffing is less traditional.
Its chopped cooked shrimp.
Muenster cheese.
Chili powder.
Knorr shrimp bullion powder.
Took forever to get the skin off these older poblano peppers.
Probably be a disaster but it's worked before.

Not my best but it'll work.
Made the batter to salty somehow and needed to add flour.

worth1 wrote: ↑Sun Jan 15, 2023 3:53 pm The batter is of my own invention and unlike the puffy egg type batter I don't like.
There are actually two styles the puffy egg and something like this one.
It's masa harina Amarillo.

This is brilliant and I can’t wait to try it. Not a fan of the egg batter either. I’ve got four kinds of masa (mix) right now but no fresh chilis!

Today I baked three rosemary sourdough batards. One of these and a romaine heart wedge salad will accompany the beef burgundy my husband made the other day and is reheating even as I type. Our kitchen smells amazing.

DriftlessRoots wrote: ↑Sun Jan 15, 2023 5:39 pm

worth1 wrote: ↑Sun Jan 15, 2023 3:53 pm The batter is of my own invention and unlike the puffy egg type batter I don't like.
There are actually two styles the puffy egg and something like this one.
It's masa harina Amarillo.

This is brilliant and I can’t wait to try it. Not a fan of the egg batter either. I’ve got four kinds of masa (mix) right now but no fresh chilis!

It's going to take some fiddling with like adding a little flour and the right amount of baking powder.
But this is very similar to my fist ever chilie relleno..
That was way back in 1979 out in West Texas in a town called Crane.
It was on a combo Mexican food plate they served at a restaurant there.
It was made with New Mexico type chilies.
That was 44 years ago and I have yet to duplicate it.

I made some mushroom barley soup today, with some cremini, and some dried boletus mushrooms - where most of that brown color comes from. Started in the Instant Pot with a chopped onion, sautéed until slightly browned in olive oil, followed by some minced garlic, red miso, and some tomato paste, cooked another minute, adding the soaking water and minced boletus, plus a tsp of minced fresh rosemary, and a tsp of dried Syrian oregano (my way of adding thyme flavor), and cooked that down to a sizzle, then added 5 c water, and 2/3 c pearl barley. Adjusted salt (didn't need a lot), then was cooked on high pressure 25 min, and pressure released naturally.

While cooking, I got the creminis cleaned, quartered, steamed, then when the small amount of water evaporates, a couple tsp of oil is added, and they are browned in that oil, and set aside. I harvested a generous 2 c each of mizuna and arugula, once chopped up, and set aside.

When the IP was opened, the creminis and greens were added to the pot, plus 1/3 c split moong dal, with hulls still attached, and simmered another 25 min, not under pressure. Corrected the seasonings, then served it with a little freshly grated parmesan.
mushroom barley soup, with some chopped up greens. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Stopped by the Mexican market to pick up some lemons for my 18th century ketchup.
And picked up this and a few more items I was out of like dried avocado leaves.

I don’t know how fun it would be, but sometimes I conjure up ideas to travel into the various regions of Mexico and sample the food.

Meanwhile, it’s baked speckled trout and peas.

The Carne Asada fronm Villa Cocina was delicious! I shared with Mom and my brother and both thought it was delicous. My brother said, "bursting with flavor". I made steak tacos with it with homemade tortillas and Mango salsa. Would have been really good with regular tomato salsa too. I used a fork to poke the flank steak with so the marinade permiated the beef more. Will definitely make it agaIn.

Knowing the English have a rather let's say tender palate I stepped up the spices and used a blender to extract all the flavor I could out of the mushrooms.
Yes I tasted the original recipe first and deemed necessary for more spices.
I then did as I would making a Mexican sauce and used a strainer to extract everything I could out of the mushrooms.
The remaining pulp was tossed into my leftover chili.
Of which improved its flavor as well.
It made almost a quart with this method and is very much like believe it or not A1 Sauce.
But with a distinct mushroom flavor in the background.

I have no idea.
The frozen zipper bag said cheek.

Pork tenderloin. Browned the seasoned meat before wrapping in bacon. Brushed thebacon with honey and then going into oven.

Serving a fennel, arugula, lettuce, red onion, and navel orange salad dressed with a dijon mustard vinegarette as a side.

Beef cheek with carrots chili powder and shell pasta.
Simple but effective.