[Canela]

Originally Posted by ruffryder

Some of the best food I've had was homemade and came from my grandmother. She was from New Mexico so I got the fresh tortillas, tamales, fresh salsas, and your typical tex mex food using New Mexico fresh chiles. I remember my grandfather cooking on what is called a "disco". It is an outdoor cooking disk, fired up with charcoal or a propane tank. It resembles a giant wok. He would cook up steak with onions, tomatoes and that NM chili and we would eat it hot on warmed up corn tortillas.





I've been to North End in Boston and ate cannolis.. mmmmm!

Some of the best bbq I've ever had came from KC Missouri.

The best pizza I've enjoyed has been made on wood fire and I had some in WA. It had feta cheese on it. yum! Some other good pizza recently was in St Augustine Florida at a Meat Market called Caramelos. They used fresh deli meats and cheeses and the slices are huge! Delish!

As for comfort food and my fav, it has to be Mexican! I'm always looking for a good mexican restaurant and trying to perfect my red chile enchiladas. I am a taco freak also and love anything from crunchy hard shell to traditional ones made of tripe, steak, marinated pork, and even found I love fish tacos. I also enjoy making and eating these lil things I call fresh Jalapeno poppers. includes Fresh jalapenos stuffed with cream cheese and wrapped in bacon. I love bacon!!




My fav meal to cook, if I have to choose is breakfast, and it can include any kind of huge spread. I like to think this is my best meal to cook and enjoy with others! Traditionally it's Eggs (omelette, scrambled with cheese, or over easy) hash browns or diced potatoes with onions, tomatoes, jalapeno, bacon cooked just right, chorizo (which is a mexican sausage, mild or spicy) I taught one of my gfs to cook bacon. She was ecstatic. It's all in not turning up the heat so high. Many people fall in love with my chorizo and egg or potatoes in tortillas.

Hi 5 to you buddy!

My grandmother (Guelita) was a very good cook. When it rained and we had to stay in was the only time she turned on the oven and baked out here. She'd make raisin oatmeal cookies. On cold mornings, she'd make atole, oatmeal with raisins and cinnamon stick chunks in it. OMG, I still love finding restaurants out here who make that...I made it for my children when they were small, but now not so much.

Tamales was a production with several women all coming together to "embarrar" (spread) the softened corn husks and catch up (gossip) then later make chocolate de la Abuelita to have with the tamales when they were ready. I learned very early to be quiet and they'd let me participate. I miss those times. I tried to get my girls involved in that, but they just didn't get it...it's alot of work, maybe that's it? LOL--of course, that's it!

The disco, my uncles used to fry fish! They were pretty good fishermen, so every weekend was a fish fry. I learned to eat huachinango (red snapper) fried, head and all in that type of disc...they'd slice it in the middle after it was all crispy and pull out the bones, then open it, squeeze lime all over it and pull the meat out and throw it in a corn tortilla with some avocado...original fish tacos! That, with a cold Tecate--ay Dios!

The other thing they made regularly in that disco was the tripas...ugh...those were gross...lol

Jalapeno poppers! You are so right! They are fantastic! A friend of mine out here makes his with fish in the cream cheese or shrimp. They are delicious! He is an incredible cook, by the way...

In Chicago, they make a cannoli cake that is amazing! I didn't even know they could do that, but the filling for cannoli is used as filling in a white cake...then strawberry glaze is piped into the cake itself, like with Tres Leches cake...it is amazing...I'd much rather have that than the cannoli dessert itself. But then again they also make Italian cakes that have the same effect as cotton candy--they melt on your tongue! As far as Italian food goes, a very sweet Italian granny taught me to make meat sauce with neck bones. Apparently, this is Sicilian? I thought it was kind of unusual but boy is it delicious!

In South Texas, fajitas are a staple. They are made to order any way you like but grilled is my favorite. With a fresh pico de gallo, as I'm not into alot of different hot sauces and until recently started using Lousiana hot sauce...that took a little getting used to. I was raised on chile piquin in a molcajete with fresh tomatoe and salt. That was the best and only chile I ate until I left South Texas and I must have been about 20 some years old...It is still the best dang salsa I have ever tried. And you can out it on anything and it's perfect!






My favorite mexican food has to be the chicken enchilada casserole I learned to make many years ago. Instead of rolling tortillas you layer them like lasagna and yes, that is so easy and so delicious and less mess....I like paella, too...but then I'm partial to rice and rice dishes. I make an effort to avoid them and now make steamed tilapia al mojo de ajo--tilapia with garlic or baked lemon pepper chicken instead of fried or guisado...unfortunately, my regional cuisine is at the root of THE largest population in the United States with diabetes. So healthy eating is important. But I will indulge occasionally in that chicken enchilada casserole or other dishes just because they ARE my comfort food.

I like Chinese food but usually opt for the grill at the restaurants to make something fresh and with no real sauce but flavor and lots of lime. I love lime on everything! lol...otherwise, dishes with nuts of any kind are the norm for me.

Gee, I am writing about all these foods and I'm not even hungry...lol...had dinner with my family and the girls cooked and I got to make dessert. Strawberry shortcake. These days I try to take shortcuts when cooking if possible so that it doesn't take so much prep or cook time and clean up is also a factor. I'm trying really hard to learn to cook smaller portions and healthier but it's coming along a little slower than I'd like.

I'm glad this thread is here. I'm learning just by reading everyone's posts! Thanks everyone!