|
Post by Don Cuevas on Mar 11, 2009 13:17:33 GMT
During an extensive shopping trip yesterday in the Pátzcuaro mercado, we were offered a large bunch of berros (watercress) and some young, tender espinacas (spinach).
It didn't occur to me until this morning that these greens were perfect for a recipe in "Mexico—The Beautiful Cookbook", a salad of fresh spinach and watercress with a dressing with ground dried Flor de Jamaica (red hibiscus flowers, usually used for a sweetened cold drink, Agua de Jamaica) as an ingredient. The rest of the dressing is pretty standard: corn oil, red wine vinegar, salt and pepper and some thinly sliced spring onions to sprinkle on. The recipe has the usual cooked, crumbled bacon as a garnish, and I'm going to add some chopped, hard-cooked eggs to boost the protein.
I've already cooked the eggs, plus I toasted some sesame and sunflower seeds to add. Looks like my version is all about the toppings.
|
|
|
Post by bazfaz on Mar 11, 2009 14:45:22 GMT
We can't get watercress here - shame.
However we did bring back dried hibiscus flowers from Egypt for Spindrift. She better hurry here or they'll have gone.
(I bargained astutely for those hibiscus flowers. At the end the seller said to Mrs Faz, 'Your husband is a hard man.' In Morocco a similar remark was made: 'You bargain like a Berber.' I think in both cases it was admiration not anger)
|
|
|
Post by Don Cuevas on Mar 11, 2009 21:20:32 GMT
Problems!! I couldn't grind the dried jamaica flowers in a molcajete (mortar and pestle) so I ended up more or less doing it in a blender.It was difficult to keep it scraped down. Then the ring seal at the bottom leaked. However, I saved most of the dressing. The spinach is so tuff, I decided to zap it for a total of 5 minutes in the microwave. So, we'll be having a Warm Spinach Salad with Bacon and Egg, with a Jamaica Flower dressing, garnished with toasted sesame and sunflower seeds. When I was a bakery owner and operator, one of my mottoes was, "If it comes out differently than expected, create a new and inventive name."
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Mar 11, 2009 21:26:24 GMT
That is an excellent philosophy.
|
|
|
Post by bazfaz on Mar 11, 2009 21:26:28 GMT
New name, huh? So this is Ensalada de Cojones de Don Cuevas.
|
|
|
Post by mockchoc on Mar 13, 2009 4:15:12 GMT
I think writeon is too busy reading the naughty book she just recieved in the mail from me today.
|
|
|
Post by bazfaz on Mar 13, 2009 8:24:05 GMT
What's it called?
|
|
|
Post by Don Cuevas on Mar 13, 2009 11:54:28 GMT
New name, huh? So this is Ensalada de Cojones de Don Cuevas. "Cojones" is more used in Castellano Spanish (Spain) and Hemingway novels. Here, they are vulgarly knows as "huevos" (eggs). My People would probably say "chutzpah".
|
|