Open 2 ripe avocados as above. Take a paring knife and score the inside of the avocado into small squares, then use a spoon to scoop avocado into a bowl.  Add 5 slices of white onion which have been chopped, the juice of 4 key limes, half a bunch of chopped cilantro, salt to taste and 1 t of milk, plain yoghurt or sour cream and mix well. Serve immediately with taco chips.

 Kath’s quote: “If you reject the food, ignore the customs, fear the religion, and avoid the people, you might better stay home.”-James Michener

Today while enjoying a delicious lunch at the Winnipeg Winter Club, the conversation turned to food yearnings.  Winnipeg is just about as far away from Mexico as you can get in North America (except The Northwest Territories perhaps) and yet the entire table was in need of a  Mexican food fix.  That was when one person mentioned a place that I have never heard of.

I headed right down to the El Izalco Market at 696 Sargent Ave. (at the corner of Toronto St).  There I met Sarah Esperanza who has owned the shop for 11 years.  Sarah is delightful and so helpful.  She was so ready to find the products that I came for and to share her recipes with very little prompting. 

I purchased a package of her frozen homemade Chiles Relleno and when I asked her what kind of a tomato sauce that I should use, she said “Just wait, I’ll get you some of mine.”  She recommended that they be defrosted (in the mic) but then oven baked.  My husband and I went for a walk while they were in the oven and when we got home-the aroma in the house was intoxicating.  I topped them with cubed feta cheese and served them along side a mixture of rice, corn and red peppers.

I am familiar with a recipe when they are just stuffed with cheese-these also had a spicy sausage meat.  Oh my goodness-Sarah your Chiles Relleno are divine!

Kath’s quote: “There is no love sincerer than the love of food.”-George Bernard Shaw

I recently had a conversation with my son and his wife about shopping at only the outer rim of the grocery store.  That is the dairy case, fresh fruit and veggie section, bakery, etc. in order to buy only whole and fresh ingredients and to avoid the processed food that is contained in the centre of the supermarket.  Newly inspired, I made brownies last night and here is the from scratch recipe: 

Place 4 squares of baker’s chocolate and 3/4 c butter in a glass bowl and microwave at full power for 2 minutes.  Remove and stir until chocolate is well blended.  Stir in 2 c of sugar (1 c at a time) .  Then blend in 3 eggs and 1 t of vanilla.  Next blend in 1 c flour and 1 c chocolate chunks (I used a mixture of chocolate chips, chopped milk chocolate and semi-sweet chocolate).  Pour into a greased 9 x 12 pan and bake at 375 degrees for 25-30 minutes.  My husband likes his brownies goey  in the middle so I removed them at this time but for a more cakey brownie bake another 5 minutes.

I learned this: “The name for the cocoa tree is theobrama, which means ‘food of the Gods’.  I know that chocolate is meant for us, however, because the melting point of chocolate just happens to be the temperature within your very human mouth.”  –The School of Essential Ingredients

On my last trip to Mexico I purchased Nestle’s Abuelita hot chocolate.  Coincidentally Abuelita plays a key role in The School of Essential ingredients.  If you love an authentic hot chocolate (not made from powder) you will love this.  Imagine the hot chocolate that was made in the chocolate shop of the movie Chocolat-mmm.  

The brownies were delicious especially because I accompanied them with a fine glass of Chilean Merlot.  If you have not tried red wine and chocolate together-you must.

Today I was at a meeting and a friend brought brownies for dessert.  I had to have a taste to compare them to my mine.  I especially enjoyed theirs  and when I requested the recipe I was told that the mix was from Costco!  Perhaps I should rethink the outer rim of the grocery store strategy.

What you see before you, my friend, is the result of a lifetime of chocolate.”
Katherine Hepburn

My favourite summer pastime is sitting on the beach and reading books set in warm places.  Last year I read a book called “Summer of My Greek Taverna” by Tom Stone.  I loved the memoir because the writer so captured the excitement and frustration of living his dream.  The recipes that he included made my mouth water on the beach.

Greek Taverna

Here’s my version of his Chicken Retsina:  Rinse 6 whole chicken breasts and pat dry. In a large bowl, combine 1/2 c Retsina wine  , 1/2 c olive oil, 1/4 c freshly squeezed lemon juice, 2 T oregano, 1 t thyme, 1 t basil and salt &  pepper to taste. Add chicken breasts, cover and marinate overnight. Cook on an outdoor grill, basting occasionally with remaining marinade. This can also be baked in a 350 F. oven for one hour, basting several times.  Retsina is a white wine treated with pine resin, following an ancient Greek tradition.  It kind of reminds me of the smell of Pine-sol and it is an acquired taste that frankly I’ve never acquired.  Ouzo-now that’s another story.

Olympia

While goofing around in the town of Olympia, Greece,  I decided to lie down on a flokati rug in front of a shop for a photo op.  When I knelt down to get back up, a rusty nail appeared through the rug and punctured the flesh just below my knee.  The shop owner was frantic-concerned that I would report the incident to the group that I was traveling with.  The only doctor in town was at a wedding and so the shop owner tried to tend to me while the doctor was summoned.  He sat me down and cleaned the wound and then poured the same antiseptic into my glass.  You guessed it-my first taste of ouzo.  Anyway, I had to have a tetanus shot but I didn’t seem to mind with that lovely nectar warming my insides.  Later in the evening-I found myself dancing!

If you have a craving for Greek food and choose not to cook-  The Greek Market on Corydon Ave. has many heat and eat meals.  My favourite is their Chicken breast stuffed with spinach and feta and wrapped in filo pastry.

Spinach and Feta Chicken in Filo and Stuffed Zucchini

I’ve got New Orleans stuck in my head.  Likely for a number of reasons: 1)  I just finished reading a book that I loved called “The Crowning Glory of Calla Lily Calder” (written by Rebecca Wells of Ya Ya Sisterhood fame) which was partially set in New Orleans 2) we were rooting for The Saints in the Superbowl this past weekend and 3) because just this morning, a reader requested our jambalaya recipe.

My husband and I have always dreamed of seeing three US cities: New York, New Orleans and San Francisco.  Only the latter remains on our “to see” list.  We were blessed to travel to New Orleans the winter before Hurricane Katrina and saw the city in all of her beauty.  We only spent 24 hours there but it was jam-packed with eating and merriment. We stayed right in the French Quarter at the Hotel St. Marie where we started the evening when our group met up in their cozy lounge.  We soon spilled onto Bourbon Street where we just had to stop for “Huge Ass Beers To Go”.  We had dinner in the outside patio at Tujague’s on Decatur St. – a restaurant established in 1856, where we had a delicious feed of fried catfish.  Next stop was at another restaurant for Jack Daniels and just shucked Oysters.  We continued onto “The House of Blues” for amazing music and ended the evening at Pat O’Brien’s for a cocktail aptly named “The Hurricane”.

The next morning we shopped the Riverwalk Marketplace for Louisiana Hot Sauce and continued to the French Market to watch pralines being made and then to sample Po-Boy and Muffeletta sandwiches.  Just this weekend, we picked up De Luca’s Alba brand’s Muffeletta-Olive Salad Mix to bring back the taste of New Orleans.

We cooked a pre-trip dinner party to get us all in the New Orleans mood.  This was the first time that my husband made his now famous Jambalaya recipe.  It was so popular that a year or so after the trip the group reassembled for a Fat Tuesday party and we served it again.  Now it is a favourite “make ahead” dinner when the guys are heading out to the lake for a cross-country ski weekend.

The recipe was originally located on a New Orleans website but has been modified to include local kubasa sausage: Doug’s Jambalaya:  Heat a liberal amount of oil in a deep & heavy pan.  Sautee 1 diced onion and 1 minced garlic clove and then add 1 lb. peeled and diced kubasa sausages (or substitute an equal amount of diced ham).  Add 1 small can of tomato sauce, Worcestershire sauce to taste, Creole seasoning to taste (can substitute Tabasco to taste).  Add  ½ each, diced green, red and yellow peppers and 10 small banana peppers (with ends cut off).  Let simmer until the onions and peppers soften.  Add 2 cans of diced tomatoes and 1-2 cans of water.  Let it come to a slow boil and then add 2 cans of red beans, 1 can niblets corn and 1 T parsley flakes.  Boil again and adjust seasonings.  When sausages rise to the top, add 15-20 whole, peeled jumbo shrimp (approx. 1 lb.) and simmer for 20-30 minutes more. Serve over rice.  Note: diced chicken breast can substitute for the shrimp or we like it with shrimp, chicken AND ham and kubasa.