One of my Xmas gifts was this cool molcajete. Its from Mexico and made of lava rock. I have wanted one for some time now and I'm happy to have it, but I hope that lava rocks removed from Mexico don't carry the same bad luck curse that Hawaii lava rocks have.
I used it for the first time last night to make some guacamole. Earlier in the day, I "seasoned" the molcajete first by pounding some raw rice in it to get rid of any grit or debris still loose in the stone.
My usual method of preparing guacamole is to chop up the avocadoes with a pastry blender (the hand-held wire thingy); add a brunoise of roma tomatoes, red onion and jalapenos; then throw in some chopped cilantro, lemon or lime juice and salt. I prefer a chunky guacamole and I like the uniformity of the chopped vegetables.
I knew the molcajete would require a different approach. First off, I didn't have any tomatoes. I roughly chopped the red onion, cilantro and jalapeno and then pounded them a bit in the molcajete. After that I added the chunked avocado and lime juice--not too bad and still chunky. My technique will require a little fine-tuning.
We had a quiet night. I grilled some steaks. The temperature was a little too warm for a fire, so we skipped that. We pretty much sat around and played records. The police scanner wasn't that active either. People seemed to be behaving themselves for a change.
This morning I watched the Rose Parade on KTLA. It has been two years now since they canned Stephanie Edwards. I was really bummed they did that since half the fun was listening to the strained banter between her and Bob Eubanks. Torrance's float looked great and won an award. There were quite a few "unofficial" signs shown during the broadcast. Signs for Dennis Kucinich and Ron Paul as well as a few impeach Cheney and Bush posters. Last year I saw only one. Power to the people. =)
I had everything going to make some Hoppin' John for lunch. I purchased some "prepared" black-eyed peas but when I opened the tub, they were all moldy! Dang! So we had our Hoppin' John with green peas instead. And it was great!
2 comments:
Happy New Year! I've wanted a molcajete for a while now too. But I already have a large and a small mortar and pestle so it'd be a bit redundant. :P
Are you gonna start pounding your own tortilla dough out of them? :)
WC--this is much more abrasive than my little M+P. It should make quick work out of big stuff when I need to. I had planned on making tamales this Xmas, but ended up making the French meat pie instead. I don't think even Hispanic people make their own masa anymore!
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