Casa O’s Lime Soup from Cocina Islena
On my first vacation on Isla Mujeres (2005), we mistakenly stayed near Punta Sur not knowing the layout of the Island. Now there were some benefits…we walked so much we didn’t have to worry about our calorie intake, there was a beautiful quiet pool at our villa and the sunrises on the craggy cliffs were exquisite.
I couldn’t find any food photos from that evening but I did find this blast from the past. The three sisters taken that night at Casa O’s.
One evening we walked the dark road to see what might still be open and couldn’t find a thing but with research we discovered Casa O’s and set out to celebrate my sister’s birthday on one of our last evenings on the island.
I can’t tell you a whole lot about what we ate and drank but I can tell you that the Lime Soup was a.m.a.z.i.n.g! On subsequent trips to Isla we heard that Casa O’s owners Lynn and Tom McGrath decided that they had to close the restaurant. Does anyone know what is in that space now?
Anyhoo the reason for that preamble is that I found the recipe for their soup in my Cocina Islena Cookbook. Here’s what it indicates with the recipe:
This Maya-style soup was a favorite of Paul Newman when we had Casa O’s restaurant. We didn’t have any photographs of Paul enjoying his meals as we didn’t want to bother him or create a fuss when he was in our restaurant. What a great, great guy he was.
Here’s the recipe:
- 2 chicken breasts
- 2 tomatoes
- ½ white onion
- 2 sweet chilies
- 1 stalk celery
- 1 whole head of garlic
- 1 pound of limes
- ½ T cinnamon
- dash of herb, epazote
- 2 pieces fresh mint
- 1 quart of chicken broth
- 2 T liquid Knorr Swiss Chicken flavoring
- olive oil to sauté vegetables
- ground pepper to taste
- corn tortillas and/or fresh crusty bread
- Pour chicken broth into a pot large enough to hold all ingredients-approximately 2 quarts.
- Roast chicken in an oven, or barbeque and shred into pieces when cooled and add to pot.
- Cut corn tortillas into ½ inch strips and fry in hot oil until hardened but not crisp.
- Drain on paper towels, lightly salt and set aside. (These will be used as a garnish on top of the soup).
- Chop tomatoes, onion, chillies, and celery, sauté in a T of olive oil until soft-add to pot.
- Mince and sauté garlic, add to mixture.
- Add spices such as cinnamon, fresh mint, black pepper and epazote.
- Add Knorr Swiss Chicken Flavoring to mixture.
- Slice limes into thin circles, add to pot, (reserve one slice per bowl to use as a garnish).
- Simmer ingredients together for 15 minutes until the vegetables are soft and the flavors are melded.
- Reheat tostadas (fried tortilla) strips.
- To serve, ladle the soup into bowls and float a lime slice on top of the soup.
- Decorate each bowl with a few reheated tostada chips.
- Cut up fresh crusty bread-serve with soup.
- Pretend Paul Newman is your dinner companion.
- Enjoy!
Over the years we have found many other Isla restaurants that do a good job of Lime Soup too….La Lomita for one!
Kath’s quote: “A person can only be judged by their actions, and not by their good intentions or their beliefs.”-Paul Newman
Love never fails.
