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Post by wheelgarden1 on Oct 16, 2015 19:08:49 GMT -5
I planted it on a lark 20 years ago, used it in bean dishes, loved it, let it escape, had salads with it, loved it more. I'm one of THOSE people when it comes to cilantro, I relish it. Yeah, you can overdo it, as it is a strong flavor. But just like tomato and basil...potato and rosemary...there's beans and cilantro. Made for each other. Good bee and beneficial plant, too. Gotta go now, there's homemade chili with cilantro on the table.
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Post by pepperhead212 on Oct 16, 2015 19:56:59 GMT -5
Cilantro is definitely my most used herb. I use a lot of basil in the summer, with all those tomatoes, but thee are a lot of tomato dishes with cilantro, too. So many of my favorite cuisines use cilantro - Mexican, Indian, Thai, Malaysian, Vietnamese, and many others - it's no wonder I use so much of it. Right now I have some growing in an Earthbox - sort of an afterthought, when the cukes were done for the year - which I will cover this weekend, as it is supposed to frost. And I have 4 more plants in hydroponics - I'll have to succession plant some, as they eventually bolt, though nowhere nearly as fast as outside in the summer.
As with all fresh herbs, it is incredibly potent when first cut! A recipe calling for 1/4c will taste the same with 2-3 tb when just cut from the plant. And at the end, don't forget the roots - another delicious part of the plant.
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Post by desertwoman on Oct 16, 2015 20:06:18 GMT -5
I love cilantro, too. I don't understand how some don't!
My favorites... Cilantro and tomatoes and hot chiles for salsa Cilantro (instead of lettuce) with bean or fish tacos (or any kind of taco) Cilantro in hubby's chicken mix for tamales Cilantro lime rice Cilantro, corn and black bean salsa Cilantro in quinoa and black bean salad Cilantro/lime salad dressing
Have you tried cilantro pesto? I haven't, but why not?!
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Post by pepperhead212 on Oct 16, 2015 20:50:16 GMT -5
Something similar to a pesto, a Thai seasoning paste I have been making for years has a generous amount of fresh garlic, plus ground seiriwack white pepper and ground coriander seed, ground up with the cilamtro. However, cilantro loses some of its flavor if not used quickly. I've also tried grinding up cilantro with a little oil, as I did with basils, and froze it, but the flavor didn't last like the basil flavors did. There flavor components must oxidize, or change in some other way, even when frozen. And this definitely happens when it is cooked, or a dish is stored for any length of time - the reason it is best added at the very end.
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Post by OregonRed on Oct 17, 2015 9:16:57 GMT -5
same here, cilantro is my "parsley" I put it in everything.
speaking of cilantro pesto... there is a recipe for "heavy metal detox" that includes a heavy dose of cilantro if anyone wants to see it. very specific ingredients and description of why they are in it...
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Post by desertwoman on Oct 17, 2015 9:59:12 GMT -5
I'd like to see it.
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Post by restless on Oct 17, 2015 20:45:28 GMT -5
I am another cilantro fan. I use it quite a lot. I was off of it for a while when we lived at a different house with an epic stink bug invasion.
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Post by pepperhead212 on Oct 17, 2015 20:55:24 GMT -5
Does it attract stink bugs restless? If so, maybe it's good I don't grow it much outside!
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Post by restless on Oct 17, 2015 20:57:29 GMT -5
No. I think that stink bugs smell exactly like cilantro when crushed. And my cats love to eat stink bugs. And the house was infested. So smelling cilantro for the longest time reminded me of crushed stink bugs.
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Post by OregonRed on Oct 18, 2015 7:58:58 GMT -5
TOXIC METAL CLEANING “PESTO”
Cilantro has been proven to chelate toxic metals from our bodies in a relatively short period of time. Combined with the benefits of the other ingredients, this recipe is a powerful tissue cleanser. Two teaspoons of this pesto daily for three weeks is purportedly enough to increase the urinary excretion of mercury, lead and aluminum, thus effectively removing these toxic metals from our bodies. We can consider doing this cleanse for three weeks at least once a year. The pesto is delicious on toast, baked potatoes, and pasta.
Ingredients 4 cloves garlic 1/3 cup Brazil nuts (selenium) 1/3 cup sunflower seeds (cysteine) 1/3 cup pumpkin seeds (zinc, magnesium) 2 cups packed fresh coriander (cilantro, Chinese parsley) (vitamin A) 2/3 cup flaxseed oil 4 tablespoons lemon juice (vitamin C) 2 tsp dulse powder Sea salt to taste Process the coriander and flaxseed oil in a blender until the coriander is chopped. Add the garlic, nuts and seeds, dulse and lemon juice and mix until the mixture is finely blended into a paste. Add a pinch to sea salt to taste and blend again. Store in dark glass jars if possible. It freezes well, so purchase coriander in season and fill enough jars to last through the year.
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Post by desertwoman on Oct 18, 2015 10:41:39 GMT -5
Thank you!
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Post by OregonRed on Oct 19, 2015 9:07:16 GMT -5
you bet
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Post by pepperhead212 on Oct 27, 2015 20:41:24 GMT -5
I made a cilantro pesto tonight - the one out of Rick Bayless's book, More Mexican Everyday. Here is the recipe, though the one in the book has 1/2 c more of oil. This says if you are going to save it, which most people will be doing (who's going to use all this at once?), float some olive oil on top, which the extra 1/2 cup does. I tried to get it sort of grainy, as it was in the photo in the book, and it came out pretty close, by using a medium speed on the blender. The cilantro flavor is not intense, but, as noted below, I haven't tested it in any dishes yet. www.rickbayless.com/recipe/cilantro-green-chile-chimichurripesto/And here is the finished product: I also made another salsa - an easier form of Salsa Negra, using canned chiles. It was easier, but it took longer to cook down, and only time will tell how it stores. He says one or two months, while the old will last just about forever, as it has extra sugar in it, and cooks down to a solid paste. It is good; however, I was unable to test these in any dishes, as immediately after making these I started "purging" myself, for a medical procedure tomorrow (I have eaten nothing hot since that lentil salad Sun, which is a LONG time for me!). I had to taste these, and spit them out - what a waste! LOL For those who have trouble drinking that stuff, here's a tip: if your mouth is burning up, drinking anything helps, and that quart of cold water goes down fast! LOL Here's the link to the new recipe for Salsa Negra: www.rickbayless.com/recipe/salsa-negra/And here is a photo of the old and new, the old on the right, and you can see the lines from the fork in it, it is so thick. I was surprised the new one came out as dark as it did. I'll update you on both of these, in a couple of days, when I try them in dishes.
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Post by OregonRed on Oct 28, 2015 10:35:02 GMT -5
wow, that black one sound fantastic!
I bookmarked his site, we get his show on public tele, : mexico, 1 plate at a time
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Post by pepperhead212 on Oct 28, 2015 15:37:58 GMT -5
That salsa negra is one of those items that I always have in my fridge, ever since I discovered it in his Mexican Kitchen cookbook, close to 20 years ago! Like with Nam Prik Pao, if I get down to 1/4 cup or so, I have to make more! I don't even need the recipe for either, I've made them so many times.
I just did a test with the new and the old, side-by-side, using 5 oz of hummus for each. I swirled a tsp of each into the bowls of hummus, and sampled them. As expected, the old was much stronger and hotter. I added another tsp of the new to that bowl, but it needed another tsp, to get the same smokiness as the old, and was still not as hot! The old has 4 oz moritas and 3 cloves garlic, which are fried, before adding to a sugar (piloncillo) water, then blending, and cooking down, as with the new one, this time to 1 1/4c. That's a lot of heat and smokiness in 4 oz. of moritas, concentrated into such a small volume! While not as stong as the old version, the new one has a better flavor for using as a condiment, IMO.
I have always liked Bayless, both his shows and CBs. With my new "smart TV", I have access to all of his old shows on YouTube!
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