It was never my favorite, and (oddly because of my
similarly vexed relations with the licorice family)
I've preferred the Asian basils, with their fennel/
anise notes, to the European varieties, even in
tomato dishes. My preferences can seem paradoxical
at times, even to me.

I never used it until I married Steve. His mom's sauce recipe called for
it in the dried form. We've also grown/used it fresh but that way can be
a bit too strong for me. Guess I ought to try other types than the

I wouldn't say the fresh is stronger, just
different. Dried has a more tealike flavor.
Fresh has a more basillike flavor.

common basil, or reduce the amount I use when I use the fresh. We all
have taste quirks so just consider yourself "normal" if you like the
Asian basils, but not fennel or anise. (G)

I don't really think about that, either. Most
of my cooking, unless it's consciously done
to someone else's specs or preference, is
done to mine, and people can like it or lump
it (votevver dot minns).

If there's a good dessert waiting, sure.

There was cherry or apple pie; I went with the former.

A good cherry pie can be celestial. Those ordinary
ones with the bright red fruit and the cornstarchy
glue, not so much.

The crust was out of a box but Mom has had her health challenges over
the last decade or so, so I'm not faulting her. Cherries were fresh,

I discovered recently that frozen crust can
be perfectly okay. Not sure about out of a
box, because wou;dn't that require lots of
stabilizers and weird artificial ingredients?

that she had frozen, no artificial color or "glue" in them. I did have a piece of the apple pie, warmed with almond milk and a bit of cheddar
cheese, the next morning for breakfast.

Sounds better than the cherry.

Yeah, you're pretty traditional folks.

In a number of ways, quite so. Other ways, not as.

Well, you may be not so traditional culturally.
I highly respect you both for your willingness
to go out on a culinary limb the way many of
your friends and acquaintances (mine, too)
probably are not.

My form of rebellion? (G)

A pretty mild rebellion and one that
seems to have turned out well for you.

There's a long and honorable history of such;
the ancient Greeks had whole catalogues of
those kinds of figures of speech.

But not "It's all Greek to me". (G)

I forget which rhetorical device that term
falls under, but you can be assured the
Greeks had a word for it. Some kind of
metalepsis maybe.

I did know at one time, Spanish, maybe, but have forgotten. Not that it
is important.

It's all Spanish to me.

Cajeta
Categories: Mexian, sweet, celebrity
Yield: 3 c

64 fl goat milk or a combination of goat milk and cow's
- or even all cow's milk (use whole milk in all cases)
2 c sugar
2 in cinnamon stick, preferably Mexican canela
1/2 ts baking soda dissolved in
1 Tb water

In a 6-qt pot (preferably a Dutch oven or Mexican copper
cazo), combine the milk, sugar and cinnamon stick and
set over medium heat. Stir regularly until the milk
comes to a simmer (all the sugar should have dissolved).
Remove the pot from the heat and stir in the dissolved
baking soda - itÿll foam up if the goat milk is acidic.
When the bubbles subside, return the pot to the heat.
Adjust the heat to maintain the mixture at a brisk simmer.
Cook, stirring regularly, until the mixture turns pale
golden, about 1 hr.

Begin stirring frequently as the mixture colors to
caramel-brown and thickens to the consistency of maple
syrup (you'll notice the bubbles becoming larger and
glassier). Stir regularly so nothing sticks to the
bottom of the pot. Test a couple of drops on a cold
plate: When cool, the cajeta should be the consistency
of a caramel sauce. If the cooled cajeta is thicker
like caramel candy, stir in a tablespoon or so of water
and remove from the heat; if too runny, keep cooking.

Pour the cajeta through a fine-mesh strainer set over a
bowl or a wide-mouth storage jar. When cool, cover and
refrigerate until you're ready to serve. Warming the
cajeta before serving (a microwave oven is efficient
here) makes it extra delicious.

Working Ahead: Cajeta keeps for a month or more in the
refrigerator. Keep it tightly covered to keep it from
absorbing other flavors.

rickbayless.com
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* Origin: Fido Since 1991 | QWK by Web | BBS.FIDOSYSOP.ORG (1:123/140)

Hi Michael,

It was never my favorite, and (oddly because of my
similarly vexed relations with the licorice family)
I've preferred the Asian basils, with their fennel/
anise notes, to the European varieties, even in
tomato dishes. My preferences can seem paradoxical
at times, even to me.

I never used it until I married Steve. His mom's sauce recipe called

for > it in the dried form. We've also grown/used it fresh but that
way can be > a bit too strong for me. Guess I ought to try other types than the

I wouldn't say the fresh is stronger, just
different. Dried has a more tealike flavor.
Fresh has a more basillike flavor.

Fresh definately has a distinctive taste to it, in some ways, almost as
strong as cilantro. It's one that works well in larger quantities for
some things, but not for others. I'd put more of it into my red sauce
than I would add to a caprese type salad.

common basil, or reduce the amount I use when I use the fresh. We

all > have taste quirks so just consider yourself "normal" if you like
the

Asian basils, but not fennel or anise. (G)

I don't really think about that, either. Most
of my cooking, unless it's consciously done
to someone else's specs or preference, is
done to mine, and people can like it or lump
it (votevver dot minns).

Apparantly a lot of people are satisfied with the way you cook for
yourself. (G)

If there's a good dessert waiting, sure.

There was cherry or apple pie; I went with the former.

A good cherry pie can be celestial. Those ordinary
ones with the bright red fruit and the cornstarchy
glue, not so much.

The crust was out of a box but Mom has had her health challenges

over > the last decade or so, so I'm not faulting her. Cherries were fresh,

I discovered recently that frozen crust can
be perfectly okay. Not sure about out of a
box, because wou;dn't that require lots of
stabilizers and weird artificial ingredients?

Probably so; I didn't look at the box but it was not the greatest
tasting crust I've ever had.

that she had frozen, no artificial color or "glue" in them. I did

have a > piece of the apple pie, warmed with almond milk and a bit of cheddar

cheese, the next morning for breakfast.

Sounds better than the cherry.

It had the same kind of crust as the cherry. With both of them, the
filling was a lot better tasting than the crust.

Yeah, you're pretty traditional folks.

In a number of ways, quite so. Other ways, not as.

Well, you may be not so traditional culturally.
I highly respect you both for your willingness
to go out on a culinary limb the way many of
your friends and acquaintances (mine, too)
probably are not.

My form of rebellion? (G)

A pretty mild rebellion and one that
seems to have turned out well for you.

Seems to have; my family (siblings) appear to be enjoying my cooking and
not criticising it. When we went up to NY after my dad passed away, my
brother asked me to make some ziti for the family. I didn't get any
complaints about it. (G)

There's a long and honorable history of such;
the ancient Greeks had whole catalogues of
those kinds of figures of speech.

But not "It's all Greek to me". (G)

I forget which rhetorical device that term
falls under, but you can be assured the
Greeks had a word for it. Some kind of
metalepsis maybe.

I did know at one time, Spanish, maybe, but have forgotten. Not that

it > is important.

It's all Spanish to me.

Si. (G)


---
Catch you later,
Ruth
rchaffly{at}earthlink{dot}net FIDO 1:396/45.28


... Are you sure you really want to know that?

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