One of the things I miss about living in the Philly 'burbs is going to Marita's Cantina for some chiles rellenos. For some reason, I liked this dish better there than anywhere else and I'm now resolved to figure out how to make it at home. Marita's used a blue corn crust and a delicious verde sauce (for which they would not give me the recipe, even though I explained that I had eaten there several times a month for years and would now be moving away) and, mark my words, I will figure this out. In the meantime, I've roasted some poblanos since they were on sale at the Giant. You know how to roast peppers, right? Just blacken them on all sides over a gas burner, on the grill or under the broiler. When they're all nice and black and blistered, put them in a paper bag and close up the bag until the peppers cool off. Then brush off the blackened skins, pull away the stem and seeds and there you have it - delicious roasted peppers. I usually freeze what I can't use right away by laying them flat on a cookie sheet sprayed with veggie spray. When they're frozen through I'll put them in a freezer bag and pull them out individually when I want to add them to a salsa or use them in some other dish.


On the canning front, I will be making the marinated mushroom melange as soon as I can find mushrooms at a decent price. The price at my local Whole Foods was ruinous and I didn't want to have to tell my son that he can't go to the college of his choice because I canned some 'shrooms when he was two years old, so I'll defer that particular activity for a bit. However, I'm no longer so anxious to get moving on the mushrooms because (and this probably helped me say "no" to the prices at the Whole Foods) because I've come upon a recipe for ginger preserves and I simply cannot live without trying this. I love, love, love ginger. Ginger soy sauce helped me through my not-fun, not-glowing-with-the-fullness-of-life pregnancy (well, that, coke classic and Taco Bell) and lately my idea of heaven is a warm ginger beer. And, even though Whole Foods let me down in the mushroom department, it was redeemed somewhat by the availability of ginger ice cream.


Anyway, so that's the agenda. Marinated mushrooms and ginger preserves. I'll be on the lookout for some recipes to combine and will post the results here (along with the recipes, if it all works out). In the meantime, peace.