Food Fun

Today's focus was on food.

We went uptown to pick up a few items I needed for a couple of recipes I wanted to try. We discovered a little produce store that had almost everything on my list...ancho, guajillo and serrano chilis and limes. They also had radishes that looked fresh so we got a bundle of those, too.

Our next stop was the big mercado for the rest of my list. Sr B loves his spinach and it's been a real adventure finding it. The only place we've found it is the new Soriana's. A couple of vendors told us it was only available at the supermarkets, Soriana's being one. So we decide to get some chaya instead. I told Sr B that I'd read it was really healthy.

When we got home, I decided to check online to see how it compared to spinach. OMG! You can't eat it raw! It's toxic. It contains glucoside that can release cyanide. It has to be cooked a minimum of 20 minutes and not in an aluminum pot. It'll react with aluminum and give you diarrhea. BUT...when cooked properly, it's full of all sorts of good stuff. Good grief. I'm sure glad I took the time to look it up. Sr B would have used it in his smoothies and I would have made a salad with it.

For supper, I made a pot of beans using this recipe. Sr B and I consider ourselves pretty adventurous when it comes to food. We try not to have preconceived ideas of how things should taste. We had it without any of the garnishes so we could see what it tasted like without the extra stuff.

It was ok but I'll make some changes next time. Neither of us cared for the beer or the lime juice. We could still taste them. Next time I'll sub tomato sauce for the beer and omit the lime juice. I think I would also add a bit of brown sugar. I know...this will make it more like what we're used to NOB and perhaps less like Mexican beans. Some might call it cheating. I call it adapting it to our tastes. We did like all the other ingredients, though. I wasn't so sure about the cocoa and cinnamon but you really couldn't taste them. I had read that serrano chilis were "fiery hot" and it *did* add a tiny bit of heat but it was a mellow heat, if that makes sense. You can feel the heat while the beans are in your mouth but as soon as you swallow them, the heat is gone. Grated cheddar cheese would be a great garnish on this and a dense, hearty, savoury bread would be the perfect accompaniment.

I've never seen any of the chilis in our store NOB so this will be something I only make down here.