I had this idea on Friday that I should really make some Mexican food over the weekend to celebrate no longer being really sick, but as Saturday seemed to bring the first (and as yet only) day of spring I wanted to do a version that was really fresh and light and springtime-y. In a very un-emmo-like move, I went grocery shopping without a list (!), and it worked out quite nicely. I came home with some beautiful salmon, some shrimp, gorgeous tomatoes from Russo's, and all of the other components I would need to make tortillas, guac, pico de gallo, and a nice marinade for the shrimp. Recipes are posted over at my other blog for anyone who is interested, but I'll put a couple of those pictures over here, too, since it's the only interesting non-rabbit-related thing I did this week...
I decided to make a finely diced avocado relish instead of my standard guac (using all the same ingredients but cutting them into a fine dice rather than mashing everything together) and it turned out pretty freaking awesome, not to mention really pretty.
I think I was being guided by the ol' WWTKD? (What Would Thomas Keller Do?) philosophy... It may seem like too much work for something that tastes very similar to a quick-and-easy batch of guac, but I have to say that it really did taste more spectacular than guac (even my own amazing version using the exact same ingredients) usually does, and a big blob of guac wouldn't look nearly this pretty on piece of grilled salmon:
Speaking of my guac, the trick of putting your unripe avocados in a paper bag with bananas totally works. It's sort of amazing, really. Also, I stole my secret ingredient (roasted serranos) from the recipe in Rick Bayless's Mexico, One Plate at a Time cookbook, which is also where I learned to make fresh corn tortillas. This batch of corn tortillas was the best I'd made in a long time, most likely due to the fact that I re-read the recipe and noticed I'd been omitting a key step when making them from memory the last few times... Oops. They were still better than store-bought even when I did it sort of wrong, but they're fantastic when you do it right and not even all that time-consuming.
As I alluded to, the bright sunny Saturday that prompted me to put my sweaters and electric blanket into storage in the basement and start shopping for air conditioners gave way to more dreary cold weather by Sunday... but at least it's raining now instead of snowing, which means I don't have to dig my car out in the morning or scrape ice and snow off of my windows, so I'm still pretty pleased with the change. I think the snow may officially be over until next winter... After feeling pretty great on Saturday, Sunday also brought the Cold That Won't Die back to my respiratory system. I think it's been almost a month now, with the cold taking on various incarnations (sinus issues, chest congestion, sore throat, nausea and light-headedness) at various times but never fully going away... Arg. (My pico de gallo is shown below for lack of energy to find a more appropriate picture to insert.)
Overall, though, life is good. I can't believe it's already (basically) April. I've got tickets to some awesome concerts coming up in the next few months, including Kings of Leon (with The Walkmen!), The National, TV on the Radio, and Andrew Bird. It's pretty great to live in a city where all kinds of musicians come on purpose. Yay, Boston! Farmers markets should be opening up again soon, too, although Russo's has pretty much made me forget all about missing the Santa Barbara farmers' market. It's only 3 miles from my apartment, has the best prices on produce anywhere in town, and has amazing quality, too. I don't buy produce anywhere else anymore... Still, it will be fun to go support local farmers when the sun comes out for good...
I decided to make a finely diced avocado relish instead of my standard guac (using all the same ingredients but cutting them into a fine dice rather than mashing everything together) and it turned out pretty freaking awesome, not to mention really pretty.
I think I was being guided by the ol' WWTKD? (What Would Thomas Keller Do?) philosophy... It may seem like too much work for something that tastes very similar to a quick-and-easy batch of guac, but I have to say that it really did taste more spectacular than guac (even my own amazing version using the exact same ingredients) usually does, and a big blob of guac wouldn't look nearly this pretty on piece of grilled salmon:
Speaking of my guac, the trick of putting your unripe avocados in a paper bag with bananas totally works. It's sort of amazing, really. Also, I stole my secret ingredient (roasted serranos) from the recipe in Rick Bayless's Mexico, One Plate at a Time cookbook, which is also where I learned to make fresh corn tortillas. This batch of corn tortillas was the best I'd made in a long time, most likely due to the fact that I re-read the recipe and noticed I'd been omitting a key step when making them from memory the last few times... Oops. They were still better than store-bought even when I did it sort of wrong, but they're fantastic when you do it right and not even all that time-consuming.
As I alluded to, the bright sunny Saturday that prompted me to put my sweaters and electric blanket into storage in the basement and start shopping for air conditioners gave way to more dreary cold weather by Sunday... but at least it's raining now instead of snowing, which means I don't have to dig my car out in the morning or scrape ice and snow off of my windows, so I'm still pretty pleased with the change. I think the snow may officially be over until next winter... After feeling pretty great on Saturday, Sunday also brought the Cold That Won't Die back to my respiratory system. I think it's been almost a month now, with the cold taking on various incarnations (sinus issues, chest congestion, sore throat, nausea and light-headedness) at various times but never fully going away... Arg. (My pico de gallo is shown below for lack of energy to find a more appropriate picture to insert.)
Overall, though, life is good. I can't believe it's already (basically) April. I've got tickets to some awesome concerts coming up in the next few months, including Kings of Leon (with The Walkmen!), The National, TV on the Radio, and Andrew Bird. It's pretty great to live in a city where all kinds of musicians come on purpose. Yay, Boston! Farmers markets should be opening up again soon, too, although Russo's has pretty much made me forget all about missing the Santa Barbara farmers' market. It's only 3 miles from my apartment, has the best prices on produce anywhere in town, and has amazing quality, too. I don't buy produce anywhere else anymore... Still, it will be fun to go support local farmers when the sun comes out for good...
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