Monday, June 02, 2008

Back in the Kitchen

Yes, indeed.....I'm back in the kitchen and cooking. Over the weekend I made up some chicken stock so today after Yoga class (first time this year!) I stopped at the mercado and bought some fixings (Texas term) for the soup. When I made the stock I put in some chicken, onions and carrots but I wanted the soup to be light and summery. I added a small can of corn to the stock because I didn't see any fresh corn in the mercado. Then I seeded and chopped fresh tomatoes, cilantro, fried up a few tortilla strips, cubed up an avocado and crumbled up some ranchero cheese and served them separately on the side to be added to the soup. Oh, I also made some tiny cornbread muffins. It all turned out to be a pretty tasty comida.

For our cena this evening, I'm trying a new recipe for chicken piccata from the latest Fine Cooking Magazine that was here waiting for me when we returned. Of course, I'll have to substitute limes for lemons so it will be a little different. I hope the lemon tree we planted on the terrace is going to produce lemons before too long....hopefully a few this year but certainly next year.

7 comments:

1st Mate said...

Looks pretty as well as delicious.

Do you notice a lot of difference between Mexican limes and lemons? I guess it's been so long since I had a real lemon I've forgotten. But you're such a gourmet...

Anonymous said...

Yummmm! Oh that Ned is a lucky fellow!

Juan

Steve Cotton said...

In one day, I have learned about the scarcity of lemons in Mexico. I never thought about that. Lime-based piccata just may work. Tell us how it turned out.

You mentioned the magic word: magazine. I have been wondering how -- or if -- I will continue my magazine subscriptions in Mexico. Is it possible? Do you rely on the postal service?

Billie Mercer said...

1st mate....There is a difference in limes and lemons. It seems to me that lemons have a fuller, more mellow flavor. For the Piccata I used less juice than the recipe called for with a lemon. It was okay but I think it just didn't have some of the nuances that Piccata should have. Sometimes we find lemons in Mega or Soriana here in SMA but not often and when they have it someone rushes in and buys up all they have.

Steve, about the magazines.....here in SMA we have mail services that have offices/addresses in Laredo. They bring down our mail 5 days a week. So my magazines are sent to a Laredo address. I've heard that magazines sent to a Mexican address don't always arrive but I've never tested that.

So many of us gringos have asked at the nurseries for lemons that they are now bringing in a few small trees. We bought one this Spring. I'm hoping that it will produce in a large, large pot. We'll see.

Heather said...

Wow! Looks great! I'll have to steal some of this for our next chicken soup!

Cynthia said...

Billie, it all sounds so good!

We bought a lemon tree soon after we bought the house. When Don was last down, it had one tiny fruit hanging there. It was very round. I think our lemon may be an orange.

My Meyer tree here in Houston has a good crop of lemons in early stages. It would have had a better crop, but we had a major hail storm in May and lost fruit.

Good luck with your lemon tree! I hope it's the real thing.

Babs said...

Hey Billie - I'll go out and check the lemon tree manana and if I have lemons (it's 2 stories high) I'll be glad to give you some!