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jennifer rose

Apr 20, 2005, 7:09 AM

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Hot Weather Cuisine

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This week I made ceviche and tabbouleh, proud of myself that the only ingredients I didn't harvest from the garden were the fish and the wheat. My next project is to make my own bulgur by parboiling and drying wheat from the market, just to see if I can.

What's everyone else doing for meals during the hot weather? Any new twists on salpicon de res?

Carol Schmidt

Apr 20, 2005, 7:40 AM

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Re: [jennifer rose] Hot Weather Cuisine

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Yesterday Norma accidentally defrosted a package of her homemade sausage cooked with green and red peppers and onions, instead of the chicken taco filling she thought she was getting from the freezer, so we had kind of Philly sandwiches, cold black bean salad, and a perfectly ripe raw pineapple.

Tonight is shrimp stir fry with lots of veggies, rice, green salad, and fresh mangos. Tomorrow we go to a book club, for which we all are suposed to bring only snacks but it ends up being everyone's main meal of the day. Norma made a large mango-pecan nut bread to bring, keeping back three pieces for our Friday night entertaining of a friend, for which she will cook Kung Pao chicken fettucini, fresh green beans with almonds, green salad and the mango nut bread, probably topped with diced raw mangoes.

(Our favorite produce vendor tossed in an extra half dozen very ripe mangoes as a regalo our last shopping trip, so we're hitting the mangoes this week. Mango chutney may be on the menu soon, too.)

Even though this is supposed to be San Miguel's hottest time of the year, the highs haven't hit 90 yet, so we haven't made any changes to our meals. Just eating up those mangoes.

Carol Schmidt

bournemouth

Apr 20, 2005, 8:48 AM

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Re: [Carol Schmidt] Hot Weather Cuisine

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Carol: If you and Norma have a good recipe for mango chutney, would you consider sharing it with us please?

Carol Schmidt

Apr 20, 2005, 11:52 AM

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Re: [bournemouth] Hot Weather Cuisine

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There are a bunch of good mango chutney recipes on www.foodnetwork.com. Here's one of the favorites, though there are simpler ones.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/...D_9936_19594,00.html

Carol Schmidt

bournemouth

Apr 20, 2005, 12:12 PM

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Re: [Carol Schmidt] Hot Weather Cuisine

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Many thanks - simple works for me!

Carron

Apr 20, 2005, 12:26 PM

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Re: [Carol Schmidt] Hot Weather Cuisine

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Could Norma come and visit us for about a week???? Hope you appreciate her!

We keep lots of sandwich stuff in the pantry. Anything between two pieces of Bimbo's Pan Integral whole wheat bread, toasted, is wonderful. We lighten up on the soups, not adding so much cabbage and potatoes, and make a lot of canned fish salads (tuna, mackerel, sardines, salmon) to have on hand. These work well just over lettuce or shredded cabbage or to stuff a ripe tomato.

We probably buy more already cooked foods, either from Soriana or our neighborhood open-air stands. We buy whole roasted chickens to serve cold with salad and lots of limes.

Canned veggies are just drained and tossed into a salad rather than heated.

Our refrigerator is filled with mineral water and the freezer with ice. We switch from red wine to white over ice.

My pasta dishes are lighter as well. Room temperature thin spaghetti, for example, tossed with olive oil instead of butter and sauced with chopped fresh tomatoes and green olives. Also tiny boiled potatoes served on a toothpick at room temperature with a good seasoning salt dip. And guacamole rules. Hard boiled eggs in the frig for snacks. Lots of pico de gallo salsa we buy already made at Soriana. More green salsas than red.

Thin steaks that cook quickly on stove or grill rather than cuts which need long simmering. Lots of cocteles de mariscos from the loncheria around the corner. More visits to our neighborhood seafood restaurant (their cold crab salad is to die for).

And watermelons and cantelopes and bananas from Chiapas.....

Carron

Apr 20, 2005, 12:35 PM

Post #7 of 21 (2085 views)

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Re: [jennifer rose] Hot Weather Cuisine

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Serve over a tossed green salad, sliced tomatoes and onions, with a big splash of bottled Italian dressing and an extra shot of lime juice. Offer room temperature homemade tostaditas instead of heated tortillas. Delicious.

Cynthia7

Apr 20, 2005, 9:22 PM

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Re: [Carron] Hot Weather Cuisine

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I am from the south and ice is one of our mainstays,,iced tea, iced coffee, popsicles,etc. I bought 2 of those glasses you put in the freezer and the liquid in between 2 plastic glasses freezes. It is great for cooling down beverages and a quick chill on Jello. I try to keep a bag of commercial ice in the freezer but this is nice for those times when ice is in short supply.

jennifer rose

Apr 20, 2005, 9:39 PM

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Re: [Cynthia7] Hot Weather Cuisine

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One of the items I've never been able to locate in Mexico is unflavored, unsweetened instant Nestea. All of the instant tea here is sweetened, so I'm always on the prowl for Nestea when I go to the States. A glass of iced tea is always in my hand during this time of year.

The automatic ice maker and cold water dispenser is the most-loved appliance in my kitchen.

Cynthia7

Apr 20, 2005, 10:15 PM

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Re: [jennifer rose] Hot Weather Cuisine

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I grew up on Lipton's - hot or cold. I now am mad about Luzianne tea for iced tea. There is a flavored tea called Paradise Tea that is also delicious. I also love jamaica - from leaves- with a package of Clight jamaica tea stirred in the pitcher. Jamaica is a good diuretic and lowers blood pressure. I get the Sonic diet limeade when I am in the states. I just learned it is the juice of 2 limes, diet sprite or lemonade and crushed ice. You can make the cherry limeade with Davinci's diet cherry syrup. O f course the regular limeade uses regular sprite. I went to the supermarket here in Arkansas and the limes were $1.29 each...so enjoy those limes in Mexico. I will check out Sam's price here for the limes.

MazDee

Apr 23, 2005, 7:38 PM

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Re: [jennifer rose] Hot Weather Cuisine

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I can't stand sweet tea either. I make tea in my coffee maker, putting about 4 Lipton's tea bags (or sometimes green tea if I have it) in the basket and brewing up a nice pot of very strong tea without heating up the kitchen, important in Mazatlan in the summer! Faster than making sun tea, and strong enough to take lots of ice. I keep some in the refri all summer.

MazDee

Apr 23, 2005, 10:26 PM

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Re: [jennifer rose] Hot Weather Cuisine

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Mangos are back, so the other day I made a batch of mango chutney. What I have in mind is mango chutney chicken salad. Yum. Poach some chicken breasts, chop them up and mix with a dressing made with some mango chutney, mayo, yogurt, and a little curry powder. Mix in some chopped celery. Maybe a bit of jicama or water chestnut would be nice for extra crunch. Blanch some brocolli to go with this very rich salad.

Carron

Apr 23, 2005, 11:43 PM

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Re: [Diane Hulen] Hot Weather Cuisine

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Yesterday afternoon our temp here reached 90 for the first of what will be many times during our long summer season. As I was reading a cook book and debating with myself about whether to turn on the small AC in our bedroom, I remembered a favorite summer recipe from Chiapas. "Ensalada Rusa", or Russian salad. No, it is not Mexican, but it showed up on many comida corrida menus at restaurants in Tuxtla Gutierrez as the sopa seca and I prepared it often at home.

It is simply cooked mixed vegetables moistened with enough mayonnaise to bind everything together. The standard assortment of veggies includes peas, carrots, new potatoes, celery, whole small onions, cut green beans, and whole kernel corn. I always use canned,well drained, as I suspected so did the restaurants where I was first introduced to the dish. Simply drain the veggies well and add dressing to taste. It makes a great and easy substitute for potato salad since it requires no cooking. Makes a delicious side for cold roast chicken. I especially like to use the larger cut vegetables such as the Veg-All brand in the US. For a real wow factor, sprinkle a little cayenne pepper over the top. Serve in a lettuce cup or over shredded cabbage. Offer limes and red radishes as garnish.

Rolly

Apr 24, 2005, 7:45 AM

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Re: [Diane Hulen] Hot Weather Cuisine

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I was recently introduced to an unusual tea by my doctor. I have a problem with gout and kidney stones, so she suggested that I drink two liters daily of a tea made from dried corn silk. I was a bit apprehensive, but I tried it and was pleasantly surprised – I like it. I drink it iced with a squirt of lime juice and a packet of phony sugar. I get the silk free from a family friend who has a wholesale produce business.

Rolly Pirate

jennifer rose

Apr 24, 2005, 1:59 PM

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Re: [Rolly] Hot Weather Cuisine

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This morning I awakened with a rare sense of culinary ambition. In the spirit of cooking everything for several days all at once on the grill, I set out some poblanos alongside a nice piece of arrachera and a chicken breast. The chiles would be stuffed, and the arrachera would be so good cold. As the grilling finished, I set the meat on a cookie tin while I dealt with the chiles. The young delinquent Doberman Goodman grabbed it and ran through the house with the freshly grilled meat, stopping cold at the door where the ancient, lame, near-toothless Beto the Doberman reposed, dropping the steak on his bed. There was no way I could deny Beto the steak, so I cut it into small pieces for him. It's his 12th birthday, so what the heck? He's at that point where he gets to eat anything his heart desires.

Handing Goodman the chicken breast, which was destined anyway for Beto, I went to work peeling and eviscerating the chiles. Discovering the cupboard bare of a can of beans, I ended up stuffing them with some leftover biryani. You know something? Biryani-stuffed chiles aren't bad.

Cynthia7

Apr 24, 2005, 8:39 PM

Post #16 of 21 (1969 views)

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Re: [Rolly] Hot Weather Cuisine

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I have been told that corn silk tea is good for high blood pressure.

Caarina12

Apr 26, 2005, 8:44 AM

Post #17 of 21 (1944 views)

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Re: [Cynthia7] Hot Weather Cuisine

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In hot weather, I make a change to cold foods or light foods just because I can't stomach anything else!
--chileajo de verduras, healthy and cold served on tostadas with a bit of queso fresco on top.
--ceviche de soya or trigo
--Salads of any kind... Lots of the standard gringo salads from my childhood: 3 bean salad, potato salad, macaroni salad. Then I bring on the new family favorites: Napa Cabbage salad, Mesclun greens with fruit and nuts with a light dressing
--BLTs
--Tortas!
--Lot of fresh fruit and fruit salads
--GRILLING! I loved grilled vegetables, and somehow cooking over a hot grill with a cold beer in my hand is less painful than sitting over the stove.

Caarina

Texwheel

Apr 26, 2005, 10:19 AM

Post #18 of 21 (1932 views)

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Re: [jennifer rose] Hot Weather Cuisine

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Okay, you got me! I am not the world's gift to culinary greatness. What is biryani?
Tom Williams
Georgetown, Texas
Texwheel@aol.com

esperanza

Apr 26, 2005, 11:05 AM

Post #19 of 21 (1928 views)

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Re: [Texwheel] Hot Weather Cuisine

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Biryani is an East Indian-Pakistani rice casserole, often containing meat, poultry, seafood or vegetables and usually served with a separate sauce. Some versions are very elaborate, some fairly simple. The rice used is always of the best quality available. The preparation time is long.

For more information, see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biryani

http://www.mexicocooks.typepad.com

jennifer rose

Apr 26, 2005, 11:17 AM

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Biryani

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Next to Turkish pilaf, biryani is perhaps rice's highest calling. Think paella, Indian style, only better. Think rice singing to the gods. It's a mixture of basmati rice with chicken, shrimp or lamb or only vegetables, mixed with a delectable array of spices that defy the imagination. Since it takes too long to get exactly the right touch of ginger, cardamom, chile, garlic and everything else, I rely upon the prepackaged combination of biryani spices, available at any Indian store, gourmet section, or even at Trico here in Morelia.

Anonimo

May 5, 2005, 5:34 PM

Post #21 of 21 (1868 views)

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Re: [jennifer rose] Hot Weather Cuisine

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When the tomatoes ripen, it's time for Gazpacho! That's an all-time favorite hot weather food for us.

Saludos,
Anonimo