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Posts from the ‘Mexico’ Category

Nov 26

3 Comments

Tropical Floats

I generally stay away from soda.  A former diet Coke addict, I’d long sworn off high-fructose pop for San Pellegrino and prissy bottles of French lemonade.  Still, I made the exceptions for the Mexican sodas sold in bodegas and taquerias.  Coming in flavors like tamarindo, guayaba, and jamaica and made with real sugar, I was mostly attracted to the unreal colors that radiated out of the coolers and glass cases.  I hadn’t done product reviews until now but when Jarritos offered to send me samples, I thought it would be a fun way to experiment with the flavors I hadn’t tried.  Having spent the summer indulging in egg creams and milkshakes , I decided to make ice cream floats for my friends and find out what they thought.  My sister Carmen had an interesting perspective that she offered to write up and post, pointing out more than pretty colors. Read more

Nov 3

5 Comments

Champurrado

After last November, I promised myself that I would build my own altar for el Dia de los Muertos.  Though widely observed in Mexico, I only discovered the holiday a couple of years ago.  According to tradition, I should prepare some of the favorite foods of my dearly departed, lay them out in their honor, and wait for their promised return.  The problem is that while I do have family living in Mexico that I adore, they are in fact living.  I may dedicate an altar to welcome my Cuban grandmother’s spirit, but if she returned to find herself on top of a Mexican altar, I would have a lot of explaining to do.  Wondering what I could possibly make to welcome her, I thought of hot chocolate. Read more

Oct 22

4 Comments

Fairy Tale Soup

It was supposed to be a fairy tale.  I found a recipe for pumpkin and crab soup that I couldn’t wait to try, a Cinderella pumpkin I couldn’t wait to photograph, and pound of fresh lump crab meat I couldn’t help but splurge on.  Using a recipe that seemed pretty straight forward if a little vague, I roasted the pumpkin and scooped out a few cups – careful to leave the shell in tact so it could it be used as a tureen – then pureed it with scallions and coriander.  Combining the puree with broth, I added way too much curry (the wooden spoon I used still looks gold plated).  I made some adjustments but it only got the soup madder.  I was moments away from throwing good crab meat into bad recipe when I decided to give up on it altogether. Read more

Oct 14

5 Comments

Tequila-Cured Salmon Gravlax

A friend from Seattle once described his family’s Christmas tree ritual.  Every December, they’d go to the woods, pick a tree, argue a little, cut it down, then bring it home where they’d have hot chocolate together.  A lovely story, but so wholesome, it seemed exotic.  Told to a bunch of urbanites who believed Christmas trees sprouted up spontaneously from the sidewalks in front of grocery stores once a year, we wanted to know if there was a designated “tree section” of the forest.  That’s the way I felt about making my own gravlax which I’d only bought pre-packaged and ready to serve (random connection I know but they’re both related to the Pacific Northwest).  I love sushi, ceviche and all things smoked and cured, but when it comes to fish, I relied on chefs and Nova Scotians to tell me when it’s raw and when it’s lunch.  This week I found a recipe for tequila-cured salmon topped with mango and lime relish that changed my mind. Read more

Sep 12

2 Comments

Chiles en Nogada

I saw a reference describing end of summer/start of fall cooking as “valedictory meals”.  I prefer to think of this time as a cross-fade.  As one season quiets down, another one starts to roar, but for at least a moment they make the same sound.  To take advantage of the markets in transition, I made an Argentinian Carbonada Criolla, a heavy beef stew lightened with peaches, pears and corn served in a pumpkin last September.  This year I decided to try Mexico’s chiles en nogada.  Pork or beef picadillo stuffed into poblano chiles, it’s covered in a chilled, creamy walnut sauce and garnished with pomegranate seeds.  Read more

Aug 16

2 Comments

Sopa de Flor de Calabaza

I don’t usually let myself buy flowers.  Frivolous in a million other ways, I become oddly practical when it comes to that.  I’ll consider the enormous sunflowers bursting out of their buckets but head straight to the potted basil, lavender, and rosemary plants instead, preferring the kind of pretty you can eat.  That’s why I get so excited when squash blossoms arrive at the markets.  Since July, I’ve had them stuffed, fried, chopped and sauteed with tomatoes.  Now that the summer is melting away and every day feels like Sunday night, each bag of blossoms has become that much more precious – shriveled and golden, bugs and all. Read more

Jul 25

5 Comments

Chocolate Covered Snow


I once read that Montezuma would pour melted chocolate over bowls of snow brought to him from the mountain tops.  The image made me swoon though it has to be boiling outside for me to give up my scorching espresso or spiced hot chocolate.  This weekend we actually did reach the boiling point so I decided to try it the Emperor’s way.   Read more

Jul 6

2 Comments

Taking Off, Cooling Down

When the heat broke last week, I thought we’d finally been granted a reprieve from the brutally hot New York summer.  Little did I know that it was only recharging.  From the number of friends posting screen shots of the weather forecast on Facebook, I know I’m not the only one mildly hysterical at the prospect of  a 102° week.  At least I had rocket pops on standby.

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Jul 3

3 Comments

A Grilling Alternative

I was looking for grilling recipes when I heard about a great non-grilling suggestion from my Tio Raul. After giving me instructions on how to make grilled elotes slathered in crema and covered with cheese, he mentioned this version he’d had at the end of a long Mexican wedding where the reception ended with a second meal. Read more

May 21

2 Comments

Mexican Chocolate Crackle Cookies

I hadn’t planned on re-posting this recipe until I my sister asked for Mexican Chocolate Crackle Cookies for a reading she was doing.  It was a last minute request on a busy day.  I gave good reasons for not making them and they were all accepted, then I decided to do it anyway.  It was a chance to go through one of my favorite recipe posts and make sure I’d gotten it all down correctly, try some adjustments and maybe find some of the typos that play hide and seek when I first hit publish (though I rarely feel like playing).  Click here for the original post.

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