[Buzz123]

Originally Posted by guinnessjim

BITE YOUR TONGUE!! IMO the food is never too hot! (but then i do have a problem )

i love this thread! when in ABQ, you should really check out dos amigos (south of I-40...i think on 4th street). run by former employees from Los Cuates (also great), dos amigos is a local favorite....therefore prices still reasonable, good sized portions, and awesome carne adovada stuffed sopapillas. nothin' fancy...just great food.

i'm not even going to start in on santa fe restaurants...too damn many! (i was born in santa fe...only anglo baby in the hospital at the time)

just outta curiousity, how far a drive is LV from ABQ? my relatives may be getting a visitor in the not too distant future (esp. if i can make it in time for the chile harvest)!

According to Mapquest Albuq. is 573 miles from Las Vegas and you can do it in 8hrs. 15 min. In my experience, it is 550 miles, and driving like a bat out of he**, you can make it in 9 hours. I've only been able to do that one time and I got a ticket. If you drive like a reasonable person you can make it in 10 - 11hrs depending on pit stops. Since I'm old and frail I would spend a night in Flagstaff as I have a few times in the past. Especially since I always manage to hit a blizzard in the Flag vicinity. You should be able to get chilis throughout September, and maybe a little ways into October. If your relatives really love you they will freeze some for you. If you are brave and don't mind being stared at, you can carry a bag of roasted chilis on an airplane. The flight takes only 1½ hrs.

Haven't noticed lately, but when I worked in Santa Fe there was a highway sign leading into town that said, Santa Fe, home of 173 restaurants. The only bad one I ever found was the Sizzler...all the rest were great.

[guinnessjim]

Originally Posted by Buzz123

If you need a great carne adavado recipe my wife makes the best. It's a still too warm in Las Vegas for green chili stew, but this winter I hope she makes some. We notived that our chilis seem to get hotter the longer we keep them in the freezer. Then I read the other day that spices get stronger in the freezer so you should add them when you're ready to eat the ffozen food. They don't understand that the hotter the better to anyone from Nuevo Mexico.

i make a pretty mean carne adovada and green chile stew myself...but i always like to see other peoples recipes, as my cooking tends to be dynamic (e.g., no measuring, not always exactly the same ingredients, cooking by theme and taste rather than 'by the book') and therefore lends itself well to incorporation of other peoples ideas, etc.

btw, i have a theory on why the chile gets hotter in the freezer. the capsaicin molecule (the reason for the heat) is hydropobic...kinda like an oil. the water mass forms crystals during freezing (ice) and expands out of the chile...the capsaicin remains. then during cooking, the water boils off, increasing the concentration of the heat-causing molecule. just a theory, but it kinda fits.

[Buzz123]

Originally Posted by guinnessjim

i make a pretty mean carne adovada and green chile stew myself...but i always like to see other peoples recipes, as my cooking tends to be dynamic (e.g., no measuring, not always exactly the same ingredients, cooking by theme and taste rather than 'by the book') and therefore lends itself well to incorporation of other peoples ideas, etc.

btw, i have a theory on why the chile gets hotter in the freezer. the capsaicin molecule (the reason for the heat) is hydropobic...kinda like an oil. the water mass forms crystals during freezing (ice) and expands out of the chile...the capsaicin remains. then during cooking, the water boils off, increasing the concentration of the heat-causing molecule. just a theory, but it kinda fits.

Write it up and send it to UNM. They've done a lot of chili studies. In one, they proved that green chilis really are addictive as people have always joked about. The heat causes pain causing a release of endorphins in the brain so that we tend to crave more and hotter chili.

[guinnessjim]

Originally Posted by Buzz123

According to Mapquest Albuq. is 573 miles from Las Vegas and you can do it in 8hrs. 15 min. In my experience, it is 550 miles, and driving like a bat out of he**, you can make it in 9 hours. I've only been able to do that one time and I got a ticket. If you drive like a reasonable person you can make it in 10 - 11hrs depending on pit stops. Since I'm old and frail I would spend a night in Flagstaff as I have a few times in the past. Especially since I always manage to hit a blizzard in the Flag vicinity. You should be able to get chilis throughout September, and maybe a little ways into October. If your relatives really love you they will freeze some for you. If you are brave and don't mind being stared at, you can carry a bag of roasted chilis on an airplane. The flight takes only 1½ hrs.

Haven't noticed lately, but when I worked in Santa Fe there was a highway sign leading into town that said, Santa Fe, home of 173 restaurants. The only bad one I ever found was the Sizzler...all the rest were great.

i have been the fool on the airplane carrying the 40lb sack of chile many times (i used to bring a bag back to WI with me when i was living up there). they aren't as friendly about it nemore though as it is technically too big to bring on the plane as carry on...guess i could always check it.

but if i drive i get to eat while i am there! oh yeah...and see my relatives. i'm sure they would freez some for me, but then i miss out on the actual roasting process.

[guinnessjim]

Originally Posted by Buzz123

Write it up and send it to UNM. They've done a lot of chili studies. In one, they proved that green chilis really are addictive as people have always joked about. The heat causes pain causing a release of endorphins in the brain so that we tend to crave more and hotter chili.

yeah, i saw that study. i luv me those endorphins.

here is another of my working theories...bear w/ me on this and let me know if it holds true:

the capsiaicin molecule (i'm calling it C now) acts on a specific type of receptor. one of this receptors primary functions is to act as a thermoreceptor, changing shape when it get hot and therfore causing the initial burst of pain from temperature heat. this is why chiles are hot...they trigger this receptor (that part is well documented).

it is also documented that the reason people can develop a tolerance to spicy food (aka a tolerance to C) is that C deadens these receptors and can eventually supress them completely (this is why researchers are trying to use C to help w/ arthritis, etc...C can supress certain types of pain recepetors).

ok..so here is my theory: eating lotsa C supresses the receptors in your mouth that initially sense pain from heat (both chemical and thermal heat). therefore people who eat a lot of spicy food are more prone to burn their mouths on temperature hot food/drink. there are deeper, secondary thermal receptors that eventually trigger, but not until you have a molten hot piece of cheese stuck to the roof of your mouth.

now...i am an idiot, so i can't rule that out for why i tend to burn the crap outta my mouth much more frequently than other people i know...but i am going to stick w/ my C defense until proven otherwise

sorry for the rambling, but i am a geek and a chile lover and rarely do those two cross paths

[guinnessjim]

so is the golden spoon custard? is it the same type of custard (basically really rich ice cream) you find in Milwaukee? i only ask as i have never seen custard like this outside of SE wisconsin...be great to have some out west!

[guinnessjim]

nevermind...just looked it up on line and it sounds kinda like the opposite of custard (it's frozen yougurt)

[Chest Rockwell]

Frozen Custard is available at Luv-It, Las Vegas Blvd. and Oakey. They keep strange hours, but you know when they're open because the people hanging out in front are eating custard as opposed to drinking malt liquor - which is what goes on whenever they're closed.

[guinnessjim]

Originally Posted by Chest Rockwell

Frozen Custard is available at Luv-It, Las Vegas Blvd. and Oakey. They keep strange hours, but you know when they're open because the people hanging out in front are eating custard as opposed to drinking malt liquor - which is what goes on whenever they're closed.

mmmmmm....malt liquor and custard. snack-tabulous!

[guinnessjim]

Originally Posted by redwhale

My girlfriend and I went to Buffet at Asia on W Sahara and Rainbow today and I gotta say it was the best asian buffet so far. I am a mongolian BBQ junkie and it was good for the spice lover. Very busy at 1:30 pm so we were seated in their bar area but service was quick, very nice variety from sushi to pizza, and delicious all around.

thanks for the tip on the buffet @asia - took the people who helped me move to LV there last sunday. awesome! everything was decent to great, the selection was huge, and the waitstaff friendly. definitley will go back

thanks again.