Cooking in Oaxaca

Okay - after a week of gorging ourselves on Oaxacan cuisine, Megan and I decided to take a cooking class.  At Casa Crespo, under the hilariously dour tutelage of Oscar, the owner, Megan, I and five others cooked and enjoyed an entire Oaxacan meal.

The class started with a leisurely coffee while we all decided what dishes most appealed to us.  Once we decided, we all sauntered (There is no walking in Mexico - and definitely no brisk walking.  Only ambling, sauntering, moseying, meandering and maybe a bit of strolling.) to the Sanchez Pascuas market to buy our ingredients.  This was perhaps the most instructive part of the class. 

Before even reaching the market, I learned:

• soaking chiles in vinegar and water reduces the heat (spiciness)
• avocado leaves can be used to flavor salsas and moles
• tinga is the name for a dish composed of shredded meat, tomatoes, chipotle and onion
• chipotle is dried or smoke jalapenos
• the chocolate in Oaxaca has no milk in it.  Just almonds and cinnamon.

Once in the market, Oscar took us on a tour and named and described the use for all the chiles we encountered.  I must admit that the options at Whole Foods for chiles can't compete.  Oscar mentioned that many of the uses for chiles are simply to add color to the food or salsa, and why would we need those chiles when we have Red #40?

Back at the restaurant, we rolled up our sleeves, donned our aprons, and got to work, first with making tortillas.  I've tried it since at home, but was quite disappointed in the results without having a tortilla press to use.  But, it was fun!

Then we started working on the almond mole, the stuffed chiles, and the quesadillas.  Besides learning that everything is better if it is first blanched, soaked or roasted, we learned that..... (let me put my serious face on here)... "Puebla says by accident they created mole.  This is not possible.  It is a complicated process!"  No no.  Mole was invented in Oaxaca.

Anyway, after much snacking and much cooking, and five salsas, an avocado soup, chocolate ice cream, cucumber drinks and guacamole later, we were ready to take a break while everything cooked.

The meal was fantastic.  The company was interesting.  The instructor made me want to instigate trouble.  And, recipes in hand, I am going to attempt them all here in Chicago.  I'll return with links to the successes.  This was one of the most memorable and lasting vacation activities I've ever had - I've shared the story and the pictures - I can't wait to share the tastes and the smells with you!

Food in Oaxaca

One of the most interesting things about travel to me is tasting the local cuisine.  On my recent trip to Mexico, I not only got to taste the cuisine, but I got to devour it.   For the foodies out there, these are the highlights from what I enjoyed:

 Enfrijoladas con pollo frito and Entomatadas with queso fresco, raw onions, and thinly cut red meat (tosajo).

El Tipico (an adorable breakfast place with a walled garden patio in back).

 Consome de pollo (soup, beautifully presented, with rice, chicken, avocado, chilis and tomato).  Crema de flor de calabaza (squash blossom soup with pumpkin seeds).

La Olla (a lovely place for dinner with several levels - the top terrace has a gorgeous view of the city)

 Taco de ejotes con huevo (green beans and egg) and taco de cazon (shark).

Itanoni - a wonderful place with such an array of fabulous choices of tacos, tamales, quesadillas, juices etc.  I'm definitely going back there!

 Tetelas espirituosa - beans, sour cream, cheese, salsa, and hierba santa.  SO GOOD.

Itanoni again.  Couldn't help it.

 Canelas (cheese wrapped in hierba santa).

La Biznaga.  The open air ambience was so lovely here, that I forgot to take pictures of some of the most wonderful food both times we went here!

 Chichilo with chicken, green beans, and nopal.  Seven different moles in the background.

Los Pacos.  A lovely, airy restaurant, that specializes in moles.  I bought some to take back home with me and can't wait to recreate this meal (without the grasshoppers).

 Carrot tinga tostada with lentil humus, sour cream, and Parmesan cheese.

La Jicara.  A pretty new, and delicious restaurant adjacent to a fabulous bookstore.

 Champurrado: a mixture of atole (a porridge-like drink made of masa) and frothed Oaxacan chocolate.

This was at a lovely little market in a church plaza.  Look at that froth!!

 Chille Rellenos.  The spicy kind.  Delicious.  Sweet.  Beautiful.  At this point in the trip, I had stopped writing everything down!  Casa Oaxaca.  I think.  A breezy, palatial restaurant with great service and a very interesting menu (try the shrimp cocktail).

Now, wasn't that colorful?  I think these pictures, more than any others, represent Oaxaca to me.
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Creepiness in Oaxaca

While the environment was lush, the buildings gorgeous, the people friendly, and the food amazing, there was a lot of creepiness I encountered on my recent trip to Mexico that I just have to share.  I give you these examples:

Chapulines.  Grasshoppers sauteed in garlic and oil.  Only creepy when I was picking legs out of my teeth.

Agave plants.  Very cool.  Only creepy in that they look a bit of aliens that have descended from space in front of this Baroque church in order to hatch or suck our soil of nutrients.

A very tasty fruit called Granada China.  Only creepy because it looks like a brain-slug and you eat it like you're doing a shot.

An art project?  A mummy parade?  I actually can't think of what's NOT creepy about this.

I heard that in places in Mexico, women wear live bejeweled bugs on their blouses as ornamentation and that there is actually a market for portraits done of your baby on Jesus's lap.  And I'll leave the creepy image of the pornographic skeleton figures to your imagination.

Beauty in Oaxaca

I recently visited my good friend Megan in Oaxaca.  

 

 

 

The perfect vacation: relaxing, seeing the world, and catching up with a friend.

The churches and other Baroque era buildings were just gorgeous.

It doesn't take much to entertain me.  Just walking around town and stopping in places on a whim was fantastic.

We did eat a lot.  I mean - what are vacations for???

The scenery was gorgeous.

Did I mention that it was in the upper eighties while I was there?

Oaxaca was such a beautiful place to visit - with something for everyone.  You should go!

I can't wait to go back.

Ribbon of Highways; Endless Driving Days

Day One.  8:00am.  Starting out heading west from Chicago.

After 1 hour:  An old farmhouse west of the Chicago suburbs.

After 2 hours:  Western Illinois.

After 3 hours:  NPR and books on tape.

After 4 hours:  Iowa.

After 5 hours:  Lt. Organic Farm, serving fresh meals just off I-80.

After 6 hours:  More Iowa.

After 7 hours:  Iowa Wind Farms.

Just getting into Omaha.  End of Day One.

Day Two:  Heading West again!

After 1 hour:  Nebraska.

After 2 hours:  Nebraska.

After 3 hours:  Kearney Nebraska.

After 4 hours:  I'd eat meat from this farm.

After 5 hours:  Or this one.

After 6 hours, clouds seem exciting.

After 7 hours:  Getting into Colorado.

After 8 hours:  zzzzz

After 9 hours:  Colorado.

After 10 hours:  Rocky Mountains / Pikes Peak / Colorado Springs

My First Camping Trip

This past weekend, I was taken on my very first camping trip. I was privileged to go with experienced campers who (as I found out - to my delight) don't rough it at all - even though we didn't use any of the premade campgrounds. We had everything we needed to enjoy a very comfortable time. There were so many aspects of it that I loved (the view, hiking, the fire, the coziness, the fresh air) and only one that I didn't (I'm planning on getting better at camp sleeping in the future).

The road to camping......

With our friends, Doug and Liz, we drove from Fort Collins (after sampling some excellent (Dark Knight HBA) and not-so-excellent (Belgian Style Kriek Ale) beer at Coopersmith's Pub the night before) to the Poudre Canyon for some scenic and idyllic camping. We followed the Poudre River along until we started heading up into the mountainous forest to find a campsite. We passed people hiking, fishing, swimming, and lazing around in tubes in the river. While the boys were chopping wood, Liz, Curry and I went on a mini-hike (mini because the altitude was bothering me). I wish I had taken pictures, but with a dog attached to one hand, and a beer in the other, over uneven terrain, I had no easy way to document it.

Satisfied with the site and the setup - it is time to get the cooler out!

Found it!

The four of us passed the evening playing a board game (The Alhambra - check it out!), cooking dinner (potatoes and onions, chicken with zucchini and couscous, and bread with rosemary), roasting marshmallows, and catching up.

Then came the real fun: sleeping. In a tiny two-person tent, broad shouldered Monte, restless and wanting to be indoors Curry, and claustrophobic me tried to pass a comfortable night. Every time I felt too confined and had to unzip the tent to get some air, Curry got up to try to find a more comfortable spot; every time Monte fell asleep and started snoring, he woke me up; every time I elbowed Monte to stop snoring, he woke up; every time an animal made noise, Curry stepped on both of us and woke us up. Thankfully, morning finally arrived (I woke up wedged in between the two inflatable mats we had under our sleeping bags) and we got up to have tea and read while the sun slowly started to warm the forest.

"Good morning! Did you sleep well?"

It is the end of the summer and time to get back to school. Starbucks Coffee is already serving Pumpkin Spice Lattes and winter is just around the corner. I'm so glad I got to spend a weekend outside like this and can't wait to do it again next summer!


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