gulfporter

It's been in the 80s so we wanted a light lunch. Grilled salmon and endive tossed in EVOO with S&P. A bit of canned whole cranberries with chipotle as a dipping sauce. Doesn't get any simpler than that. I had originally planned to grill the endive but it was so fresh I went the au natural route. I hadn't seen in quite awhile down here in MX so it was a real treat....sweet and bitter at same time.

My favorite Torta Ahogada place in town adds a shrimp torta during Cuaresma (Lent). For the uninitiated the name means, Drowned Sandwich. It comes on a super dry bolillo baked specifically for this sandwich. You get separate bags of a sauce, super hot sauce (so hot my husband doesn't add any of it), pickled onions and diced zucchini. You stuff the pickled items in the sandwich then drown it in the sauce. The bread loosens up.....provecho! I eat mine more like a slow French Dip so I can control the bread's mushiness (for lack of a better word); I like a bit of bite and chew all the way thru to the end. Lent isn't as strict here as it was just 10 years ago. Growing up in a Lithuanian immigrant Catholic family in the 50s and 60s, Lent was very strict. No meat any day of the week. We were poor so most Lenten meals were potato pancakes, mac n cheese and cheese and/or potato pierogies my grandmother made.

Soft tacos using leftover grilled Jerk chicken (with cilantro, pickled red onions and a healthy dollop of the Jerk sauce from the marinade). They look pale as this is before they made it to the grill.

Grilled Jerk Chicken with Tostones.

I'm not even sure what a Pinotage is, but it's tasty! Guessing related to a Pinot Noir?

My first visit in any new city or country is a grocery or better yet, a public fresh food market. I also love to explore foreign food markets in the US. I have owned a home in Central Mexico since 2008 and my food/menu vocabulary is pretty good. But I am still surprised and amused. Today I went on the hunt for plantains to go as a side to a Jerk meal. I normally look up translations for new items before I go shopping but I didn't this time. I found the regular bananas which are platanos. But no plantains. I tried to describe what I wanted and failed miserably....all I could summon was 'no es dulce,' not sweet. Finally the owner went to another area and came back with plantains. "Platanos Machos!" he told me. Manly bananas. Gotta love it. fyi, the first time we were in Quebec in the 1970s mi esposo ordered Ris de Veau thinking it was veal with rice. It was sweetbreads. He liked them and still orders if he sees on a menu. Our first trip to Spain in the early 80s, we splurged for a meal at the Parador in Cuenca. I ordered a pork dish (sounded like a stew). It was pig ears (finely sliced, but still a bit of a chew). We can't be the only ones who have stumbled with food in a foreign tongue....what's happened to you? Of course in this day and age of ubiquitous travel many eateries' menus are in the local language plus English. And of course there's now the quick peek at your phone for translation.

I had a much older version but they are still available at Amazon. Cake donuts. (eG-friendly Amazon.com link)

I bought a panini press! Now what? By Smithy 16 hours ago in Cooking Now what?? Well if it was me I'd go crazy experimenting for the next 2 weeks. Then I would have to go on a diet and take the press to the thrift store. I say this based on my past purchases of: Bread Machine Ice Cream Maker Fry Daddy Pasta Machine Donut Maker

Surprisingly cool and wet on our return to Mexico, Massaman shrimp curry. Canned massaman paste and can of coconut milk mixed into a well cooked melange of carrots, brussel sprouts, orange sweet pepper, onions and MXN squash (green). Esposo likes this mild curry, I add siracha on my plate.

Found another Portugal cellar's vino verte today at liquor store here in Ajijic Mexico. Refreshing and an artistic label, too!

Butternut squash ravioli (made in-house at local Italian deli). Topped with browned butter, a bit of bacon, fresh basil and TJ's imported parm shards (1st time purchased and really like their size, texture over grated parm).

Another frozen bread dough turned into sweet rolls. Cherry preserves and 5 spice powder.

Fried eggplant with pasta (actually shelf-fresh Udon)/ Trader Joe's red pepper and almond pesto.

Light evening meal. Grilled andouille sausage over a carrot mash. And a delightful fig chutney made by a friend from his trees.

A repurposed meal. US restaurant portions are too darn big! Brought home half of the proteins on a Cobb-like salad. Took the chill off the grilled chicken, thick bacon and bleu cheese and put it over some creamy polenta. It served the two of us, My opinion is that Americans now expect to take home leftovers and many restaurants make portions large (along with a higher price) to meet this expectation. Personally I don't care for leftovers but I won't waste food either. Taking home half a salad especially delicate greens doesn't work, so I eat all the greens at the restaurant and take much of the proteins home. Sorry for the rather poor pic; I am still figuring out best area to take nighttime photos in this new-to-me kuchen lighting.

Shrimp in red curry sauce (sauce via a Trader Joe's jar). I jacked up the sauce with fresh garlic, grated ginger and Thai birds eye chile. Sauteed an onion, sweet red pepper and slivers of carrot. EZ PZ.

For those who missed the Breaking News regarding the Tempest in the Teapot, here's a link to the story about an American "scientist" who suggested the addition of salt to tea, as well as warming the milk. https://www.npr.org/2024/01/25/1226815949/tea-salt-controversy-us-uk

At first glance I thought the US Embassy response wasn't real, that it was just a joke. Wrong! It was an official document. Afterward this was issued by the UK Cabinet Office at X (Twitter). Cabinet Office @cabinetofficeuk In response, to the statement put out by the US Embassy in the UK: We appreciate our Special Relationship, however, we must disagree wholeheartedly... Tea can only be made using a kettle.

Andouille sausage with cannellini beans.

Orange cardamom rolls using frozen bread dough. I had just taken out of oven and one's already missing! I won't name names. But I suspect my DH.

Meatballs, tomato and bacon over creamy polenta, finished with goat cheese.

File this under the heading of, Why Didn't I Think of That!?! Sandwich at Time Market in Tucson (part deli, part upscale wines, part in-house bakery). Grilled chicken sandwich with avocado, cheese, spicy aioli on fresh rustic bread. But the most amazing part of the sandwich was a layer of a green chili tamal made with fresh corn that was smashed down and fried up crisp. fyi, tamal is the proper spelling/name in Mexico. There is no word 'tamale', tamal is singular, tamales is the plural.

Another Sheet Pan Dinner. Butternut squash and hot Italian Sausage. EZ PZ. I served over a bed of arugula.

Looks burnt but doesn't taste burnt. Gochujang chicken with turnips and carrots on a sheet pan. A side of pickled radishes with green onions. I'm currently at our Arizona house, using convection feature of its Viking oven. The crisp it gets on the chicken skin is amazing! I don't bake or roast at our Mexican house as that oven has no thermostat and struggles to get to high temperature and hold it.