Making candied ginger

There is a local, well there are several, but this particular local health food store is run by a friend, and she had received a big shipment of fresh organic ginger so I decided I wanted to make some candied ginger - I haven't actually found any to buy here.

So I tell her I want a kilo, and for what and we chat and she wants to make some too! 

So bonus, she'll bring mine and hers and come down and we'll make it together.

So we started with a kilo and a half of lovely fat ginger, we peel it, and chop it. Which was way tedious.

Then we boil it for about 30 minutes, and then drain off the liquid, which i kept and am drinking ginger tea like no bodies business.

Then we add a kilo of sugar, about a 1/2 cup of the ginger water, and the cooked ginger to the pot and start it simmering.  

Now we wait and watch, and stir, oh and we ate dinner during this part.

Then after oh, and hour or so, the syrup has reduced down and is going dry and starting to crystalize again.


Once it is really dry, and just starting to caramelize we dump it out on 2 baking sheets, and separate the pieces.


It turned out really well, the pieces are mostly dry and separate, and really tasty.

making caimito jam, err, jelly

I was gifted a bag FULL of beautiful, fresh, ripe caimitos.  I love caimitos, I've blogged about them before.  

I gave a small bag full to my neighbors and ate my fill the first day.

   

I had way to many to be able to eat, and was trying to think of something yummy to do with them; as good as they are there must be something more than just eating them fresh.    The internet doesn't come up with much;  But I did find a recipe for jam, equating caimitos to plums.   

Sounded good - Caimito Jam.

First thing was to wash, halve, scoop out the seeds, and then scoop the pulp into a pan.

then quite a bit of cooking, adding sugar, and squishing ensued.

 Caimitos have a resin that sort of dries out your mouth, and is a bit bitter.  To me the 'jam' was a no go - the pulp is too grainy and tough.  And the resin is way to powerful.

When I eat these I cut them in quarters, scoop out the seeds and just suck out the pulp.  I get very little, very little of the bitterness of the resin.

So I decided to squish out the juice and make a 'jelly'.   

This is the dry pulp.

Well to me it is still no good, but Tom is willing to give it a try.   Blech!

This is the jelly, twice sieved, but needs another sieving to get rid of some of the grittiness!

so caimitos, enjoy them fresh!

Tepache - it's that time, again

About a year ago friend Jonna made Tepache - it was fabulous.

I tried making Tepache - it was terrible.

Then the vendors started passing, like this guy - His Tepache is/was fabulous also.  

Maybe I need to try again!

I'm starting to see the Tepache vendors again - 

pineapples must be abundant, and cheap!

I am fortunate in that I live in an older more traditional neighborhood where the vendors can and do still pass by selling stuff.  

I really love that! 

 I'm tuned in now and know most of the sounds, horns, bells, and calls! 

ummm, Tepache!

Tepache is a Fermented Pineapple Drink.

Sometimes made with alcoholic additives, 

sometimes not.

Last year my recipe called for beer. It was't very good. 

This year I'll leave out the beer and go with a non-alcoholic version.

• 1 whole ripe pineapple, about 3 lb. chopped to bits
• 12 - 16 cups water
• about a pound (1/2 kilo) raw sugar or piloncillo
• 1 3+ inch stick of cinnamon
• 3 -5 whole cloves

• 
  

Cilantro Cumin Dipping Sauce

AFAD recently held their Annual Fundraiser

Tom and I donated some wine, and made a tray of about 125 botanas for the event.

Nothing super fancy, just skewers with a variety of grape tomatoes, cheese chunks, and black olives. But what was apparently the BIG hit is/was a Cilantro Cumin Dipping Sauce that I make with some frequency.

This sauce is something I just throw together - Now I know I could go out and buy the stuff and make it and do measurements and blah, blah, blah.... but if you know me then you know that won't happen.

Therefore, here is the recipe, as I know it!


One large bunch of cilantro, cleaned and patted dry - do not cut off stems
3-4 large cloves of garlic
juice of 3 limon indios These are sort of like key limes in the USofA, you could use any tart citrus, lemon, lime, sour orange....
1 T cumin seed and 1/2 tsp oregano, toasted
oil - avocado oil is good, olive oil if salad grade, or canola oil. maybe 1/3 cup

salt, pepper

and I like a bit of heat so I add a bit of chili; serrano, habanero, jalapeno, whatever I have, but I always roast it a bit on the comal.


put it all in the food processor and go at it.

''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

Hago esta salsa con frecuencia - lo usamos en todo tipo de cosas - no hay una receta real, por lo tanto, no hay medidas exactos.


Un manojo de cilantro, limpiado y secado - no corte los tallos
3-4 dientes de ajo grandes
jugo de 3 limon indios, jugoso
1 T semillas de comino y 1 / 2 cucharadita de orégano - tostado (este es el secreto, comino y oregano bien tostado)
aceite - aceite de aguacate, de oliva, si el grado de ensalada, o aceite de canola. tal vez 1 / 3 taza

sal, pimienta al gusto,

y me gusta un poco de picante entonces agregar un poco de chile; serrano, habanero, jalapeño, cualquire lo que tengo, pero siempre que asar un poco en el comal.

my new molcajete

Not to long ago on one of Erich of Intheyucatan.com's videos, Brent of Remixto fame was demonstrating how to make tacos de arracherra.  As part of this demonstration he was making a salsa in a molcajete.  Now his salsa is very familiar to me as it is one I make frequently.  Although I either mince the ingredients, or use the food processor, depending on the application.

I love Brent's molcajete, It is big and shallow, and does not include a pig face! and since I know he shops at the big mercado frequently I decided to head over to see if I could find one just like it!       I couldn't!

I did find, and buy this nice big heavy molcajete -

which required me to taxi home rather than walk, this thing must weight 15/20lbs.

Well, Today I decided to make guacamole for a house warming I am going to tonight.  I put the molcajete in the kitchen by the sink, and started roasting off the veggies I need, 1 serrano chile, 3 lg cloves garlic, 2 med tomatoes, 1/2 medium onion, I also prepped juice of 3 limes, 2 haas avacados, salt, and cilantro.

I started with the serrano, then added the onion, and then started adding the charred tomato halves one at a time.  I muddled, I twisted, I pounded, I scrapped, until I thought my shoulder was gonna come loose - I then brought the food processor in, sat it next to the molcajete, transferred all the stuff, whizzed it for a few seconds, and VOILA!  Guacamole.

Anyone want to buy a molcajete - Like New!

Veg Friendly blog

I am a child of the 60/70's.  Hippie days, long hair, barefoot, jeans, make love not war, respect mother earth, peace, love, be one with your universe.....

As a young couple of the era Tom and I tried to be close to nature, and as self sustainable and with minimal negative impact on the earths resources as possible.

When we moved to Colorado in 1976, we gave up smoking (well we gave up smoking cigarettes), it was quite a bit later that I gave up on pot.  We gardened, we canned, preserved, or froze all our own food.  I made all our breads, tortillas, pitas, etc.  We raised and butchered our own chickens and rabbits.  Got eggs from our chickens.  Got goats milk from a friends farm if we did the milking, I made our cheese from the goats milk.  Grew and dried our own herbs.  I even sold herbal vinegars and oils at farmers markets.  I made Tom's shirts and my wrap around shirts and halter tops.

At some point the raising and butchering was more than my conscience could deal with and I went vegetarian.  Which then moved me to being able to cater in both vegetarian and vegan fare.  The Vegan was by far the most sought after,  I was one of very few that could cater in Vegan in Colorado Springs, at that time!.

As time went on, and as we bagan to travel it became somewhat troublesome to find things I could eat, I also happen to be lactose intolerant.   I always found it humorous when I would tell  servers that I didn't eat meat or dairy and they'd say, No worries, we have chicken.  Or they tell me that something I ordered was a bad choice because it either had eggs or mayonaise, because we all know that those things are dairy????

Anyway,  the more we travelled, the more often I compromised,  a bit of pork in a sauce,  pork fat in the beans, or ham or bacon in the beans,  pick the meat off the nachos, etc.  Once home I'd revert to my old ways.  But it happened more and more as we travelled more and more.  Then there were the office environment jobs  -  Slowly I just found myself compromising more and more.  Then it got to be where I ate animal but with great infrequency, then I was eating fish and seafood with some regularity, then when I wanted to lose weight it was chicken and veggies, to many carbs in beans...

So now I am a meat eater, a carnivore.  I don't like it - don't get me wrong, I enjoy meat sometimes, in fact sometimes I crave it.  It's my head, and my body that don't like it.  I can't get my head around and feel comfortable with the animals commitment to my ability to both eat it and wear it!  And I know my body reacts differently after I have had meat; tired, sluggish...


Nancy over in Mazatlan recently wrote a lovely post about her being a vegetarian, and offered up a number of her personal  resources.

So I was thinking about starting a Blog for Veg friendly recipes and resources - a bunch of us could have access, be partners on it!  It would be great for us here in Mexico where some of the resources and conveniences we were accustomed to are not available.  It would be recipes with stuff local, stuff available.

What do you think?   Anyone interested!? 

 You don't have to be vegetarian to enjoy a veg meal. 

 I frequently prepare vegetarian meals for my meat eating friends, so far no complaints, well at least after the meal - there have been a few comments prior.

Pulpo 101

I LOVE PULPO!        

 Pulpo is what the yucatecos call octopus.  I don't know if that's what they call it in the rest of Mexico, but here in the yucatan it is pulpo.  And it is a BIG business here, well along the coast, not directly here in Merida.  Most of the pulpo caught here is exported, but some of it makes its way to Merida.

We have a fellow from Hunucma, who has family who are pescadores/fishermen around Celestun.  Lucio comes to Merida on the bus, wih a cooler full of seafood 6 days a week.  He stops by our house every so often, or calls.  We frequently buy seafood from him;  Fish fillets, shrimp, lobstertails, jaiba/crab, and just recently octopus.  His stuff is always fresh, caught within the last day or two, and always a good price.

He recently came with several kilos of pulpo.  I love pulpo but have never made it myself.  So I decided to buy a 1kilo bag.   We like Lucio very much, we know his family, attended his youngest sons baptismo, and we like to support him.

So, with pulpo in hand my first stop, well after the fridge, was the internet.  Gads, what had I gotten myself into....

first thing was to clean the buggers, blech,  soak, rinse, soak, rinse, separate head from body, peel the skin from the head, rinse, rinse, rinse...remove beak, pull all the goop out of the head without breaking the ink sac, soak, rinse, soak, rinse,

ummm, pretty

I ended up with 3 head sacs, and two bodies.  These bodies were more than a foot long.

Once I/we had  the pulpo all cleaned I made a marinade  and we soaked the pulpo for about 4 hours, then we grilled it.

I don't have any photos of the grilled pulpo, it was quite pretty, and so very difficult to chew. 

We tried several things and finally gave up.   -  I think I will be eating my pulpo out! 

I'm sure there are easy ways to tenderize it - we've heard several - soak in milk, pressure cook for 45 minutes, hold the tentacles and smack the thick part against the counter many times....

It was a grand adventure, but not productive.  I will have to do more research, like maybe talk to someone who does actually prepare pulpo....

but for now,  I will enjoy my pulpo prepared by someone else!

Tepache

Friend Jonna has made Tepache a number of times.
Tom and I have been invited to share in it with her a few times,   Uber Yummy!  She tends to make a quite alcoholic version that is best treated as a digestive.

Pineapples are incredibly cheap right now so I decided to try my hand at making Tepache!
I've also been noting quite a few trici-vendors with the big blue and orange striped barrels advertising Tepache; tis the season I guess!  

Tepache is a fermented, often alcoholic, drink made with pineapple; skin and all.  I am unclear in my memory of Jonna's recipe, and I thought she had blogged it....not being able to find a blog by Jonna on Tepache

I Googled, don't you just love Google, Tepache and came up with a number of plausible recipes of varying degree of alcohol content.  I decided that since it is killer hot right now something more refreshing than intoxicating was in order and selected the following recipe from Pati's Mexican Table:


INGREDIENTS 
1 ripe pineapple or about 3 cups
4 liters water or 16 cups
1 pound piloncillo or dark brown sugar
1 cinnamon stick
5 whole cloves
1 cup lager beer

TO PREPARE - Using the traditional big eathenware jug (or a large pot), bring to a boil the 16 cups water along with the piloncillo, cinnamon stick, and whole cloves.  Simmer, stirring once in a while, for about 10 minutes or until the piloncillo has dissolved.

While the water is simmering, wash the pineapple thoroughly, and remove the stem and bottom.  Cut it into 2 inch cubes, without taking off its rind.

Once the flavored water is ready, add in the pineapple chunks and cover.  Let rest for 2 days, or 48 hours, in a warm area of you kitchen.  The mixture will begin to ferment and bubble on the surface.  Add a cup of lager beer, stir well, and let it sit for up to 12 hours more.  Don't let it ferment much longer, or you may end up with vinegar instead!

Strain tepache through a fine strainer or cheesecloth, and serve very cold.  You can either refrigerate it, or serve over ice cubes.

Today I added the beer, which I think is more for the increased fermentation that the alcohol - so tomorrow we see how it worked - I have to say it is really fermenting!   Gads, it smells horrible!  But it is all bubbly.

So here is my pineapple, piloncillo (dark sugar), and stick canela (cinnamon).

and here is my dissolved liquid, and cubed pineapple.

I don't have a traditional Tepache jarra, but I do have my grandma's old lemonade crock!

And here you have the first glass of Tepache, Cool and Refreshing, NOT!  Just a bit too much fermented flavor for my taste!  I will definitely be trying a different recipe!

roasting a poblano chili, and pollo en rajas!

I make a number of dishes that include roasted poblanos, or rajas.  People often ask me how to make the dishes, which includes a lengthy discussion on actually roasting and peeling the poblanos.

The poblano (Capsicum annuum) is a fairly mild chile originating from the State of Puebla, Mexico. When dried it is called an ancho chile. While poblanos tend to have a mild flavor, occasionally and unpredictably a poblano can have significant heat. There is a secret, which I will disclose later on how to predict to some degree the heat of a poblano. 

Below you see a variety of poblano chilis.  Notice the ends of the chilis.   See how some are very pointy, and some are more rounded?  The pointier the chili, the more heat it has; the rounder the end, the less heat.

 To roast the poblanos you must get them directly on flame.  Some people use a comal, some a frying pan, but it just doesn't work as well as direct flame.  I would prefer to roast the chilis over a grill outside but alas the flames on my grill are to far from the grate and the peppers tend to cook rather than roast, or char.

And yes, you do want them charred dark like this all over, don't forget to turn them so that the stem ends get charred as well.

Once you have them charred all over you place them in a covered bowl for about 10 minutes to let the steam release the skins form the chilis.

After the charred chilis have steamed I like to plunge them in a cool water bath.  I find it easy to slip the skins while in water. Plus the chilis don't burn my hands with heat.  

I tend to not wear gloves when I peel the chilis, I do not recommend this.  My hands get quite hot and burning, however it really diminishes the stiffness from my arthritis.  You must be extremely cautious if you peel the poblanos bare handed, you can really hurt yourself if you touch tender sensitive other parts; eyes, etc.

 

Once you have the charred skins removed you need to seed and vein the chilis.  

I split the chilis and then just run a knife along the vein and remove it and any attached seeds. 

If you want to stuff the poblanos you need to either remove the top and slip out the seeds, or cut a slit in the side of the chili and remove the seeds.

I use roasted poblanos more as rajas than to stuff them.  So once I have them cleaned, veined, and seeded I slice them into strips.  I  always roasted extra and place the strips flat in multi-layers in a baggie, squeeze out the excess air and freeze.  Then when I want to use poblanos from the freezer they just break away and I can use some or all, depending on the recipe!

Another trick to diminish the heat even more, is after you have charred, and cleaned your chilis, place them in a bowl to soak for about 20 minutes with a bit of vinegar.  I'd say a tablespoon of vinegar per liter of water.

Below is a crowd pleasing favorite recipe:

Pollo en Rajas

1 - 1.5 k pechuga de pollo/chicken breast, cocida y desebrada (cook and shred)

4-6 chilis poblanos, se hacen se desvena y se cortan en rajas (Char, peel, seed and slice into strips)

1 cebolla blanca/white onion, grande, cortada en rajas, (peel, half, and slice into strips)

1 lata de grano de elote - quitar el liqido (1 can, drained whole kernel corn)

1 latita de media crema (sm box media crema)

sal y pimenta al gusto  ( salt and pepper to taste)

las rajas de cebolla se ponen al frier en un poco de aceite, se agrege los chiles, y se deja. Se agrega el elote, el pollo y sal y pimienta, cocido 5 minutos, se en lave esta mezcla la media crema, se dejo cocer por 7 minutos mas y se serve caliente

cook the onion strips in a bit of oil, just till transparent, stir in the chile strips, corn, shredded chicken, salt and pepper.  Cook 5 minutes - pour over this the box of media crema, cook about 7 more minutes to thicken and mix all the ingredients.  Serve hot.

I like this served over a plain pasta, although last time I made we discussed it and decided it should be prepared by adding 2-3 cups cooked, al dente, rotini pasta to be added about 3-4 minutes after the media crema.

Serve with a salad, or sauteed veggies.

This is a great potluck dish.  After it is prepared put it in a casserole, top with a bit of parmesan and brown for visual effect and take along.

Agua de Chaya

About 3 weeks ago Tom and I started a daily ritual of drinking agua de chaya. 

Although it is common practice here in Mexico to use the leaves raw in agua fresca, a tea-like cold drink, chaya does contain cyanogenic glycosides, which are a source of cyanide poisoning.  Therefore according to most US and English resources it should not be eaten raw. Boiling leaves for at least 5 minutes releases the cyanide and makes the leaves safe to eat. Even though some people tend to eat raw chaya leaves, it is unwise to do so.


An analysis of raw and cooked samples of chaya leaves revealed that cooking may increase the relative composition of carbohydrate and fat and decrease relative composition of crude fiber and protein. On the other hand, cooked samples of chaya leaves were considerably higher in calcium, phosphorus and iron while the potassium content was relatively lower than in the raw samples. The increase in some of the mineral nutrients may be due to the cooking process, which allows extraction of the nutrients from the tissues, therefore increasing the percentage of mineral elements while decreasing moisture content (Booth, S., R. Bressani, and T. Johns. 1992. Nutrient content of selected indigenous leafy vegetable consumed by Kekchi people of Alta Verapaz, Guatamela. J. Food Compos. Anal. 5:25-34.).

Chaya must not be cooked in Aluminum, as a toxic reaction can result causing diarrhea.  Chaya gets a little tougher when cooked, so use the more tender young leaves for cooking.

Some types of Chaya have stinging hairs on the stems and leaves.  You need to be cautious if using these leaves and wear gloves or plastic bags over your hands until the stinging hairs are completey removed. Finding chaya leaves, and or plants to grow the chaya without the stinging hairs is fairly easy so avoid the spiny ones whenever possible.

My preparation; after consulting with several 'locals' on how best to prepare and consume agua de chaya is to clean 5-6 medium/large chaya leaves, squeeze 4 medium limon indio (local limes), add honey to taste, I use about a tablespoon of local honey to 1 liter of water and blend till the leaves are pulverized.

I keep reading more and more about the potential harm from cyanide poising from consuming uncooked chaya.  To date, neither Tom nor I have noticed any ill effects.  I am however considering the 5 minute boil prior to blending the ingredients; but only becuase we are drinking our agua de chaya daily.

In some regions chaya is called chaya col or chaya mansa. The botanical name is Cnidoscolus chayamansa.

Chaya is one of those miracle foods that more people need to be aware of, especially those in disadvntaged circumstances; first because it is incredibly easy to grow, and second because of the nurition it contains.  

From Purdue's Horticultural Studies area:

Nutritional composition of leaves of "chaya"

(Cnidoscolus chayamansa McVaughn)  per 100 g fresh weight.

Water (%) 85.3

Protein (%) 5.7

Fat (%) 0.4

Crude fiber (%) 1.9

Total CHO (%) 4.2

Ash (%) 2.2

Calcium (mg/100g) 199.4

Phosphorus (mg/100g) 39.0

Potassium (mg/100g) 217.2

Iron (mg/100g) 11.4

Ascorbic acid (mg/100g) 164.7

Carotenoids (mg/100g) 0.085

Average nutritive valuey 14.94

Health claims attributed to the ingestion of chaya:

Improve blood circulation,

help digestion,

improve vision,

disinflame veins and hemorrhoids,

help lower cholesterol,

help reduce weight,

prevent coughs,

augment calcium in the bones,

decongest and disinfect the lungs,

prevent anemia by replacing iron in the blood,

improve memory and brain function and

combat arthritis and diabetes.

chaya is richer in iron than spinach, and a powerful source of potassium and calcium.

I am decreasing the vitamin and mineral supplements I take due to this new agua de chaya regime;  I am still in the experimental phase, and after 3weeks don't yet feel ready to offer up an opinion on the benefits.   Time will tell!

I came across this info on cyanide poisoning, which I find very interesting:

How can people be exposed to cyanides?


People may be exposed to low levels of cyanides in their daily lives from foods, smoking and other sources. Eating or drinking cyanide-containing foods may cause health effects. Breathing cyanide gas, especially in a poorly ventilated space, has the greatest potential for harm. Lethal exposures to cyanides result only from accidents or intentional acts. Because of their quick-acting nature, cyanides may be used as agents of terrorism.

How does cyanide act in the body?

After exposure, cyanide quickly enters the bloodstream. The body handles small amounts of cyanide differently than large amounts. In small doses, cyanide in the body can be changed into thiocyanate, which is less harmful and is excreted in urine. In the body, cyanide in small amounts can also combine with another chemical to form vitamin B12, which helps maintain healthy nerve and red blood cells. In large doses, the body’s ability to change cyanide into thiocyanate is overwhelmed. Large doses of cyanide prevent cells from using oxygen and eventually these cells die. The heart, respiratory system and central nervous system are most susceptible to cyanide poisoning.

What are the specific signs and symptoms of cyanide poisoning?

The health effects from high levels of cyanide exposure can begin in seconds to minutes. Some signs and symptoms of such exposures are:

• Weakness and confusion
• Headache
• Nausea/feeling "sick to your stomach"
• Gasping for air and difficulty breathing
• Loss of consciousness/"passing out"
• Seizures
• Cardiac arrest

The severity of health effects depends upon the route and duration of exposure, the dose, and the form of cyanide.

the chaya plant foto is from the internet, the other 2 are mine.

  Also, much of this info came directly from internet searches,

although some words are actually mine.

Cooking: Arugula pesto

Friend Jette, who grows organic veggies recently gifted me with, what I called a 'shitload' of arugula, of course she calls is rocket, what with being all British and everything.  You'll have to ask her for yourselves why it's called rocket!   Anyway, when I exclaimed that I'd never be able to use that much arugula, she said something to the effect of oh shut up and make pesto and freeze it!   cheeky girl!

So I did make arugula pesto and oh my gosh - it's so fricking good I am eating it on crackers like a dip!

For my arugula pesto
2 monster handfulls of clean fresh arugula
3 large cloves of peeled garlic
1/2 tsp salt
1 c pecans, you could use walnuts, pine nuts, whatever nuts you fancy...
1/3 c parmesan cheese
olive oil, probably 1/2 - 3/4 cup
I'm not good about actually measuring things!

Lucky me, I have a food processor...

This stuff will be fabulous over pasta!


Now I've decided to make arugula chimichurri and spoon it over grilled tofu with julienne carrots for dinner, zowee wowee!

I may need more arugula - JETTE!!!!!!!!Honey, sweetie, cutey girl.....

cooking: flor de calabaza relleno de picadillo

I have several very long calabaza  (squash) vines growing in my garden.  Each morning as I walk through the garden I enjoy the beauty of SO many beautiful yellow blossoms.

I was told recently that I should pick some of them and stuff them - so that's just what I did!

This morning early I went out and picked about a dozen calabaza flowers.

Yesterday, knowing I wanted to make stuffed flor de calabaza, I made some picadillo:
about 1/2 k lean ground beef'
1/2 med onion, chopped fine
2 cloves minced garlic
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 quartered green olives
all cooked together with about 2 cups homemade salsa de tomate
cook until nearly dry.
If desired add a bit of powdered black pepper or a pinch of crushed red pepper flakes

Vegetarian trick,  I have used crumbled hydrated textured soy protein in place of the meat a bit more seasoning is required.

Pull the ends off the squash blossoms and twist out the stamen, rinse in cold fresh water. If the flower is big enough open it and spoon in picadillo, else I split the blossom open and drop in a big spoon of filling, push edges together and lay cut side down in a casserole.   Spoon your prepared salsa de tomate over the stuffed flors, if desired top with grated cheese, parmesan, monterrey jack, manchego....
Heat thoroughly to melt cheese and serve.

Cooking: Tacos de Chaya con Huevo

People are always asking me about things I make - I love using local foods and experimenting with my cooking.

I recently needed a Take Along dish for an event, and being lazy as I am I didn't want to have to run to the Super or around the neighborhood looking for inspiration for something to make.  Instead I decided to use what I had on hand:

Since I have a chaya plant I decided on a tray of Tacos de Chaya con Huevo.

(Chaya is a green leaf vegetable quite similar t spinach but with just a bit more body)

I gathered, cleaned, de-stemmed, and chopped about 2 cups of fresh chaya, chopped a medium onion, minced 2 cloves of garlic, shredded 2 carrots, and cut a zucchini into quarters lengthwise and sliced.  All of this was lightly sauteed in a bit of olive oil with only salt and pepper for seasoning.

To this I added 8 whole eggs well beaten

Cooked completely

stirring the whole while

I then added a generous scoop of filling to each warm fresh tortilla

fold the tortillas, spoon over with salsa de tomate  (recipe below), y voila!

My tomato/tomatoe plants were producing more tomatoes than we could eat so I was making lots of fresh tomato salsa. Chopped fresh tomatoes, a few cloves chopped garlic, some chopped onion to your taste, no need to add liquid as the tomatoes have plenty – Cook over a low heat till reduced. This is a pretty standard Salsa de Tomate. I like a little spice in mine so I also put a slice in a small habanero and cook with the tomatoes but remove before using the salsa. If you roast all your veggies before making the salsa then you have a Salsa de Chiltomate which is really the best! Some folks run this through blender before using, but I prefer the chunkiness.

For the Take Along I just rested the tacos against each other and took the salsa on the side, when ready for service I oven heated them, and as they were placed on a plate the salsa was added, they were a bit messy by this point but held their shape for plating, eating was best done with a fork. Next time it may be better presentation as a layered dish cut into pie wedges.

Along with what Tom and I ate before I prepared the Take Along, I bet this made about 25 tacos.

And boy were they good!!!

Making Sopes

We have a monthly group that gets together to drink.

OKAY we call it a wine tasting, and yes it really is what we do -

A wine is selected, let's say Tempranillo for this post, everyone searches out and reports in when they have made their acquisition, the others are notified so there are no duplicates and they bring their bottle of locally purchased Tempranillo on the appointed night. Everyone typically also brings a little nosh for before the tasting starts. We have plain crackers and light bland cheese for during the tasting, notes are taken, discussion on the nuance and subtleties, yada, yada, yada, just fill the glass will you! Tallies are taken, and the wines are ranked. Fun is had by all.

So, getting to the point of this post -

I can't have a bunch of drunkerds rolling

out of my house and trying to drive home

so I always prepare a little post tasting sumthin

- and the other day I decided to make

sopes (pronounced "SOH-peh") and nopal salad!

Sopes are sort of like a soft taco, except the base is thicker, and has a lovely little ridge to hold all the goodies in. Sopes apparently originated in Culiacán which is a city in northwestern Mexico, and is the largest city in the state of Sinaloa. Sopes are traditionally fried, but I baked mine. Wait, let's start at the beginning -


I stopped in at my local tortilleria

and inquired of the ladies if any of them could provide me with 30 sopes for a price, they just looked at me and said they were easy and I should just buy the masa. OK they are easy...not really the point. They didn't know anyone that would make them for, so hey, I'm retired, I've got plenty of free time...

I'm really bad about recipes, I just cook. So here are my best guesses on what I actually did.

I have varied my sopes from traditional, in that traditionally sopes are made from straight masa - I think they are too tough and dry, so I made mine more like you make an empanada; corn masa, flour, salt, and oil. Of course traditionally you use manteca, rendered pork fat.


SOPES - To 1 1/2 kilos of masa, I added about 1/3 cup of oil, 1 cup of flour, ,and a large pinch of salt, mixed this all by hand and set it aside.

I cut a large baggie so that I had 2 sheets of stiff plastic. I took about a golfball size wad of the prepared masa and squished it between the two sheets till about a 5" circle. Then pinched up the edges to create the lip.









I then placed them on a baking sheet and baked at 160c, the lowest my oven will go for about 15minutes. Then I placed some cheese on some and returned them to the oven for 3-5 minutes.

Don't they look gorgeous, and they are soft and pliable rather than stiff and tough.

For the FILLING I sauteed chopped chayote, zucchini, poblano chili, onion, tomato, garlic, added canned sliced mushrooms and canned corn, and fresh chopped cilantro. Cooked that till still toothy, but not too crunchy, add a bit of chilisal and stir. Set that aside.

I put all the stuff into separate bowls and had the guests prepare their own sopes.

Select a base, put in sauteed filling, add fresh cilantro, and queso freso, then I also had minced onion and habanero mixed with fresh lime juice to add a bit a spiciness.

NOPAL SALAD - 3 paddles or leaves of fresh nopal, cut into 1/2 inch long strips then cut to one inch pieces, and boiled for 20 minutes in lots of salted water. Rinsed several times, then drain and let cool. Chop onion, tomatos, cilantro, mix with the nopal, squeeze 3 or 4 limes onto this, add a bit of salt and let rest. to serve I just add a bit of crumbled panela cheese to the top.