Biloxidman
is One Chatty Farker
- Joined
- Nov 1, 2013
- Location
- Biloxi, MS
Amazing, simply amazing!
lol Made me laugh. Thanks Justin!The whole post is obviously amazing, but I laughed so hard at this sentence. If I read it anywhere at all, my first thought would be "that belongs on the Cowgirl blog"
Hope you are doing well, glad to see another of your creative cooks!
Thanks Chris! Bruce described it well... they are a bit like a green bean. They can have the slime factor like okra but it is easily cooked off.Wow, just wow! What does cactus taste like?
Chris
With a little research I discovered that some varieties of opuntia (prickly pear -- nopal) are hardy down to -30f. Now I am going to have to plant some. I had a few large specimens when I lived in SoCal, but never considered it to be a climate hardy plant. Wrong again. Never thought to stuff it, only ever added to soups/stews/casseroles. You're a rock star Jeanie.
To answer Chris - what does it taste like: hard to answer, maybe a little bit like a green bean. You can find it jarred, in strips, in the Mexican section of your grocery store, or better, a Mexican market. It will be called 'Nopales'.
Jeanie,
That looks fantastic - as your cooks always do. How's the prep and cook time? I ask because this is now on my list of things to try. I'm 100% sure mine won't be as beautiful as your's but, heh, you gotta start somewhere...
Another amazing cook neighbor!
Never had that but sound pretty darn good.
We have prickly pear around here.
For you no such thing as too many Pics An outstanding meal Would love to dry that grilled Cactus
Thanks Kevin! The bigger the cactus pads, the quicker it goes as far as preparing and stuffing. Make sure you get them cleaned really well. lol<snip>
It all looks fantastic Jeanie and I see the schrade made a guest appearance :clap:
Ok Jeanie, let's have an adult conversation about 'size matters'. I know, I deserve to be eviscerated questioning anyone with the where with all to stuff a nopal. I'll take one for the team.
The pads in your OP were from a store (farmers market?), a good one as those looked great. Yet as you know, but some here may not, you want young, first year growth pads if you harvest your own. Older pads will be tough, and I suspect stringy. So if you go cactus gathering in the wild, go for the brightest green, this years growth pads you can get. Given that, bigger is indeed better, or at least, easier and more 'stuffable'.
Damn, I need to get me some. Curses...
Btw: the jarred ones in the store, rinsed, are good in salads.
In my (twisted) mind cooking a cactus is right up there with skinning a porcupine........................Prolly not gonna do it.
In my (twisted) mind cooking a cactus is right up there with skinning a porcupine........................Prolly not gonna do it.
Some things are just weird. When skinning a trigger fish, go from tail to gills. Go figure...
Or Oklahoma.. :grin:Yeah that's a weird lookin fish.
Don't catch those in Kansas...
Just beautiful, Jeanie! Looks definitely worth the effort. I didn't have nopales until a couple years back. A market near where I was working had 'em with carnitas & I ate my weight in that stuff many times.
Great stuff!