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We've been making our own masa for corn tacos. It's work but very much worth it. The story goes that when Masienda's Oaxacan corn reaches the taco griddle at an upscale Mexican restaurant, the aroma makes the Mexican staff tear up with childhood memories. It's really that good (and Anson Mills doesn't come close for this application): Masienda A shopping list for a full setup: Heirloom Yellow Bolita Corn (Oaxaca) (and/or other varieties) Chef-Grade Cal Chef-Grade Masa Flour (Harina) White Tortilla Press by Doña Rosa (this is better than the one you have) Premier Small Wonder Table Top Wet Grinder 1.5 Liter by SS Premier (as recommended by Oaxaca: Home Cooking from the Heart of Mexico) One cooks corn with cal and water, then lets it sit overnight, to make nixtamal. Recipes for this are all over the map, and no one accounts for the weight of the corn and the water, unlike the brine recipes in Paul Bertolli's Cooking by Hand. I've found that 4:1 water:corn suffices for any corn variety, and 0.5% cal by weight is a minimum effective dose. For example, 360g corn, 1440g water, 9g cal. Cooking times are also all over the map. One wants to see a partially translucent but not mushy kernel when you cut one open to check. After short cooking times Laurie experienced digestive distress. We've settled on using an old slow cooker on a four hour external timer. It only reaches an effective temperature in the last hour, and the corn comes out right. One then rinses the kernels multiple times to get rid of the dissolved outer layer, then grinds the nixtamal to make masa. Traditionally one used a stone metate; this took hours and a shower. Mexicans often use hand-cranked metal grinders, but this requires two passes, and in Youtube videos they finish on a metate. It is rumored to take hundreds of pounds of corn to stop seeing metal fragments from these grinders. Steve Sando of Rancho Gordo imported a Nixtamatic, a powered Mexican machine. Masienda sells the Molinito, a $1750, 26" x 13" x 19" countertop commercial unit. Bricia Lopez, in Oaxaca: Home Cooking from the Heart of Mexico recommends an Indian wet grinder. One grinds for 40 minutes, scraping down as needed, after adding 1/3 water by weight. This yields a too-wet masa that one corrects with masa harina; the masa still comes out much better than straight masa harina, even Masienda's. A wet grinder is easy to clean. I cannot speak highly enough of Masienda's tortilla press. I actually had a project languishing over a decade to finish a cherry wood press. Now there's no point. The Masienda press is capable of greater force than any other home press I know. How does one avoid a tortilla thinner at one end? Easy, press, rotate, press. How does one easily peel the tortilla free? Press inside a slit open plastic food storage bag. Lift the plastic off one side. Flip, lift the plastic free from the other side. While I own a comal, I vastly prefer cooking tortillas on a Baking Steel, in a pipeline three tortillas deep, flipping every minute at around 500 F. Restaurants use restaurant griddles the same way. It is essential to lightly season the griddle before starting, or wet tortillas will stick. Nothing beats a Dexter Russell 16160 Traditional Series 6" x 3" Hamburger Turner for flipping the tortillas. This is all truly worth it.

African night at tony b's. Wonder where that idea came from? Peri-peri chicken thighs, main grate, direct, 350F, coffee wood chunks. Served up with jollof rice, side salad and pita bread. Lovely Vouvray to balance the spicy foods.

So, thank you for all of this @Syzygies. I am already partway down this rabbit hole but have a look out on the outside, ready to pull me out if I look like getting stuck down a side burrow. All roads appear to lead to Masienda. My tacos inspiration is coming from this awesome book, Tacos by Alex Stupak: https://read.amazon.co.uk/kp/embed?asin=B00TCI2A3Q&preview=newtab&linkCode=kpe&ref_=cm_sw_r_kb_dp_4NRTZSQKNF2TREX70V7G I don't think I will find another book to top this one for its sheer inventiveness and range. The author recommends Masienda. I reached out to @Braai-Q for Mexican cook book recommendations and he came up with Breddos, the same Tacos book by Alex Stupack as above, Mexico the cookbook and the same Oaxaca book that @Syzygies recommends. Interestingly Breddos also shop with Masienda even though their restaurant is in the UK. So, Masienda is a common thread. I have had a fair bit of correspondence with them, poor things, and have ordered their nixtamatal starter kit (excluding the tortilla press) and white and blue masa harina so that I have something to compare to my fresh masa efforts. They do not have stock of the black beans that I also want and I have decided to wait until the end of March when they are available. Shipping is not cheap and I need to maximise what I get in my package. No new tortilla press. My husband laughed at me when I gave away what was then our "second best" tortilla press last summer. How many UK households have one tortilla press, let alone two? Well, having bought the Netherton Foundry tortilla press over Christmas I now have two again and I am happy with both. Will see what Sy thinks of the Netherton tortilla press when he finally gets his hands on one. I am sure he won't be able to resist. On to grinding the masa. The guy at Masienda wanted to know what I would be grinding the corn with. A perfectly good question given the challenge of doing this well. I took Sy's lead and looked into the Premier stone wet grinders. I looked at the 2 litre version - takes up too much space on the countertop. The tilting version looked attractive but it didn't have good reviews. So, I ended up where I started, with Sy's recommendation of the 1.5 litre version. My dad gave me £100 for my birthday present and that was the trigger to place my order. Waiting for it to arrive. Sometime in April I will report back on whether this was all worth it. In the meantime, I am enjoying upping my flour tortilla game will be dabbling in the corn tortilla space, using "inferior" cheap masa harina with flavourings to test the boundaries of what is good and what is not .

It will get fired up next week regardless of the snow situation. I’m hoping the snow melts but we’ll doing some driveway cooking if not. Today would have been the day but it’s my nephew’s birthday, so I’m off to Chicago to wish him a happy one. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Find a salsa recipe and make it. Dried chillies are a great way to explore sauces, particularly in the winter when the fresh stuff is less available.

To celebrate the tease of an early spring (it was 45F), threw some snags on the grill and made some coleslaw to get me in a summertime mood. Our local supermarket (HyVee) makes good bratwursts. These are bacon-cheddar and jalapeno-cheddar. Color on the coleslaw is from the purple crack. Trader Joe's tater tots done in the airfryer, with Peruvian green sauce (the other crack!) @Troble will catch the beer homage!

Post Oak smoked (Syzygies foil method) burgers then reverse seared over a soapstone. Delicious! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Once you get in the store Troble the trigger has already been pulled, your not leaving without. Let's keep the Picanha on the cuff, we don't need a nationwide rush on this cut, keep it low. Show me, like the Missouri state. Others could be in line.

I’m looking forward to seeing how you cook those Troble. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I finally went to the shop and pulled the trigger on 2 Japanese A5 filets as well as a Japanese A5 Picanha cut those will be cooked Sunday night & Monday night

It's too bad you are still suffering, Tony.

If you're like here, it should be almost gone by your return. Melting fast here with temps in the 40s and sunshine for the last few days.

well? Has the snow melted yet? Have you sneaked in a cook yet? Tell all!

Or adds to the frustration when your ship is anchored off the coast for days waiting to dock, or it does a "drive by" your port only to go to another one first. @ckreef can attest to this one, as can @tekobo!

Old Julia Child tip for getting beet stains off your hands - table salt. Mix up a wet paste of salt and water and use it as a scrub for your hands. Then wash with soap & water.

I hate to tell you how much I just dropped on filters...4 tiny pieces of glass... From bottom to top: Cone Nebula, Christmas Tree Cluster, Fox Fur Nebula (looking particular foxy today). To the upper right with a bison head is the B39 dark nebula. An unnamed formation spotted by a friend is...SHREK. Is or is that not Shrek in the upper left???

A little late here. I never take pics and post so I know it didn't happen, but I just did a prime rib the other night. I like to reverse sear them. 200° to 250° to an IT of 120° to 125°, remove from KK, tent/rest. Crank KK up to 400° to 450° and put the roast beck on to sear and crisp the outside. Pink from edge to edge every time.

I’m also going to include this cook here as I feel like it’s almost an obligatory follow up cook to this dish. You should have extra tortillas because one never wants to run out of tortillas when making tacos so the following day you make breakfast tacos, using preferably applewood smoked bacon take the tortillas lightly toast it and upon the flip sprinkle a little cheese on there, before it’s fully melted take it off to rest and continue melting. Take some of your leftover Mexican oregano and make scrambled eggs. Serve with sliced avocado and my preference is siracha sauce on top. My favorite breakfast plate