gulfporter

Still too hot to turn on oven or even stove top. Our annual rainy season in Central Mexico is late...usually starts early June. Grilled shrimp over corn and black bean salad.

Angel hair with blackened grilled shrimp. Simple finish with parm, olive oil and basil.

Casual Cobb Salad with Shrimp. We are in last few days before leaving for 4 weeks. Catch as catch can.

We didn't put a lot of effort into this shrimp and grits. We're tired from our trip and getting ready to leave again in a week. Had a big delightful Mexican comida at a seafood place, but wanted to use up some grilled shrimp stowed in the fridge.

@Tropicalsenior These pork tortas ahogadas and all their accompaniments sell for 60 to 85 pesos and there are stands with delivery all over town. Hence, I have never tried to replicate them at home. Sorry!

Had a delivery of our local tortas ahogadas, one shrimp and one carnitas (the most tender pork ever). For those not familiar, the tortas arrive with large bags of broth (a different one for the shrimp and pork); smaller bags of hot (chile árbol); and bags of pickled red onions and lime wedges. You put the torta in a bowl, dress with onions/lime, then pour over the sauces (they are heated). Let it sit a few minutes and the hard salty rolls (birotes saladas) soften. The roll is very similar to a crusty French small baguette. It was the French under their short colonization of Mexico who taught Tapatíos (residents of Guadalajara) to make this bread.

Jars can be our friends, especially on the day you return from a trip. Went to US for first time since Aug. 2021....and bought a house!! Blackened grilled salmon over white beans (from Spain) and artichoke hearts (from Peru). All I added were a few cloves of garlic, chopped shallot and fresh rosemary from my patio. Wish it wasn't so white, but flavors were there.

The local bacon doesn't seem to be salted, very smoky and mostly lean. What is the cure on it....just smoked?? I have to add salt to it when adding to recipes. Today at the carnicería it was 160p per kilo or 3.70 USD per pound (if my math is right). I haven't been to US in 2 years and probably haven't bought bacon there in 4 years.

Made a quick pasta with leftover charred cherry tomato/portobello/capers/kalamata melange, grilled an Italian sausage then topped with good parm and toasted pine nuts. As I served it last night I said, "Wish we had some fresh Italian basil." My plant died several months ago and when I've look for a new plant, all I've seen is Thai basil. Well, sure enough I spotted some Italian basil this morning and will pot it later today.

Grilled salmon with a Mediterranean side of charred grape tomatoes, portobello, shallot, capers, kalamata olives.

Cold plate of Black Forest ham, cambozola cheese, deviled eggs (they look a bit green as I made with chimichurri), sliced apples, olives. Just enough for a hot summer-y evening.

Next year I'll try to remember them for Día de San Patricio ☘️

Lots and lots of herbs and greens, very little pork. Spice mix includes cloves as well as cumin, etc. Every family has their own recipe. Not common throughout Mexico, but find it here and there.

Chorizo verde made into hamburguesas. First pic when they hit the grill, then after a flip and cheese on one.

If you bring your own container(s) you can control the situation. I carry a canvas shopping bag instead of a purse, even when I go out to dinner....I have some nice ones for 'evening wear' 😃 A small New Yorker-branded bag and also a fashionable Smithsonian Museum member bag in black and a touch of lime green (it even has an outside pocket for my phone). I carry 2 plastic containers, one is a split container allowing 2 different food items that won't touch each other (wish I could find another one here). Granted I live in a village in central Mexico but we eat out 5 to 7 times a week and bringing a container that I can fill, carry home and then simply refrigerate is far better than the restaurants' to-go boxes whose lids or covers often don't fit tight enough. And I can microwave some of my leftovers in the same container I took to the restaurant. fyi, when I travel to the US or EU or big cities in MX, I do the same as above.

Grilled portobellos with goat cheese. Later dressed with fried onions/pepper/poblanos.

When the restaurant on our street has Enmoladas de Pato (duck enchiladas covered in molé negro), I run for it! At 120p (incl. tax) or $6.50 USD it's a steal.

Mine is simple and I don't use oil. I thin slice about 10-12 key limes. Then I juice a few more. Our key limes here in MX are very small, btw. I use every Indian dry spice in my cupboard, lots of prepared garam masala, turmeric, fenugreek (that I soften in water the night before), add cumin, garlic and onion powders. Lots of cayenne, though I brought back too much piri piri from Portugal and used that most recently. Lots of salt (I taste mix and when it's too salty, it's about right). No fresh stuff like garlic cloves or ginger, because once when I made it with those, I got mold after a month in fridge. Alternate layer of lime slices with spice mix, then fill with lime juice. I leave on counter a week, making sure to pack down the limes if they get above the liquid (as the lime softens, it won't be a problem). Then I put in fridge. I make a small canning jar of it and it lasts us 6 months...it's super hot and my husband uses very little of it.

Indian spice-crusted grilled shrimp. With homemade pickled lime, raita with cukes and cilantro, mango chutney. Charred some flour tortillas to fake a naan.

Ahhhh....fried bologna sandwiches. The best (and almost only) dish my Dad made for me on Saturdays when my Mom went shopping. We'd eat them in front of TV, watching Sky King. The bologna was thin-sliced and he got a great char on it. Served on white bread with ketchup. Chips on the side.

New crop of green beans grown on nearby Mezcala Island by indigenous community, and sold on street corners in our village. Made a salad of them with dried cranberries and toasted pecans with lemon vinaigrette (as we say here, American lemon). Heated GF empanadas from local chef. I don't need GF foods; I buy these because they have most tender flaky crust and his fillings are wonderful. One of these is poblano with cheese and the other is chicken in molé negro. We are in upper 80s near 90, so I use my outdoor gas grill as an oven to heat foods rather than my uninsulated Mexican stove. This is hottest time of year until our rainy season begins in mid June.

Seared tuna taco on flour tortilla with pickled onion, cilantro, avocado and wasabi mayo.

This is produced by Stanley Tucci who hosted CNN's Searching for Italy. We're impressed and happy that we've been to all of the regions covered so far. Eaten at many of the restaurants she's visited. This week's episode on Oaxaca (best cuisine in MX) included a visit with Muxes which is a lifestyle that few outside of Mexico are aware of. Fascinating! https://www.forbes.com/sites/lauramanske/2023/03/25/eva-longoria-hosts-searching-for-mexico-new-travel-food-show/?sh=28e6bd026625

Marshmallow vodka??? Oy!!