Your favourite uses for cumin?

Laura, could you expound on how you use cumin in your eggs? I sometimes use salsa in my scrambled eggs, and I also use 1-2 of the big Jim's that I spoke of in my note to Paul. I do love the flavors of the great southwest.

I tend to make a lazy omelet style - stir up the eggs with a fork in a measuring cup, sprinkle in ground cumin. Nothing exotic. Sometimes I just sprinkle it on top while it's cooking. Sometimes add some onions or cheese or green peppers or whatnot, but it's all just a vehicle for cumin to me. I definitely don't relate to the "a little goes a long way crowd."

There's also the Indian cucumber/yogurt/ground cumin salad. Yum.

Green chile is good in everything. You've probably noticed that after freezing the skins come off easily. I usually peel them before freezing, though, so there's less volume.

Larry, not peeling them before freezing was a product of me getting in a hurry because of time constraints, I put a half dozen peppers into quart size Ziploc bags, then about six of those into gallon size ziploc, so I can use them as needed, and like you say, they are easier to peel.

The state tree of New Mexico is the nut pine, and I suppose the pine nut is the state nut. If you recall I have a small bag of them, and the instructions for shelling them is to hold between the thumb, and the knuckle of the first finger and squeeze. I must be some kind of soft handed dainty thing, but that doesn't seem to work for me. Am I supposed to do something to them first? maybe roast them in the oven? or soak them or something?

[quote="Bob Henrick The state tree of New Mexico is the nut pine, and I suppose the pine nut is the state nut. If you recall I have a small bag of them, and the instructions for shelling them is to hold between the thumb, and the knuckle of the first finger and squeeze. I must be some kind of soft handed dainty thing, but that doesn't seem to work for me. Am I supposed to do something to them first? maybe roast them in the oven? or soak them or something?[/quote]

Maybe you're living too close to some Kryptonite. I would have sent you the unshelled if they hadn't been out of them (but they're much, much more expensive).

Shelling pinon nuts is not easy--just think what the early natives went through. You can buy a Davebilt sheller for about $100, try a tack hammer one at a time or see if this link will help http://www.janeechandlerfineart.com/capturing_the_pinones.html

I hadn't seen your post when I posted mine on heads on pikes, which also involves cumin.

The hard ingredient for that recipe is gunpowder plotters......

Fajitas.