A Crab Feast

Lucky me! My son Mike, brought me a 16-ounce container of crab meat. He knows how much I love crab. I've been known to sit at the table picking and eating crab and drinking a bit of wine for hours. I could be by myself but it is even better if I am sitting with some other people just picking, eating, drinking, and talking. A crab feast was something Ned and I loved to do when we could find nice fat gulf coast crabs. Although I've seen crabs in markets in San Miguel, they weren't lively. I did not buy them. Now that I have crab, I wanted to savor it so I spread it out over three dinners.

The first night was a salad with crispy, icy-cold hearts of romaine lettuce with Cesar dressing topped with crabmeat. The second night I made a cream of corn and roasted poblano soup topped with crab meat. I had to improvise on the soup. Back in San Miguel, I have a recipe from a cooking class that Ned had gone to. I looked online but none of the recipes seemed exactly right so I took a bit of this one and a bit of that one. It was good but it wasn't as wonderful as Ned's recipe.

For the last bit of my crab, I wanted to replicate the sauce that Goode Company Seafood uses in one of my favorite things on their menu, the Campechana Extra shrimp and crab cocktail. No recipe but that did not stop me. I roasted tomato, green pepper, and onion and then I chopped it up in the blender. Added some catsup, lime juice, jalapeno, salt and pepper, and a little tabasco. It was too thick so the recipe needs some more tweeking. The crab meat was tossed with the sauce and topped with fresh avocado. 

I cleaned my plate. All. Three. Nights. 

Weekend Getaway

 

Me:   I'd like to go see this Annie Leibovitz exhibition in Mexico City. You interested?

My Friends: You bet. Let's go!

 

And so 12 days later we were in Casa Gonzalez which is just a couple of blocks from the US Embassy and the Paseo de la Reforma in the heart of Mexico City. It had been about 25 years since I had stayed in the Casa Gonzalez guest house so it was such a treat to go back and see how it had changed. There are more rooms, wifi, better, much better mattresses, more gardens and outdoor tables and chairs but still the same charm and intimacy. The breakfast is fabulous although now you pay for it separately, the cost is quite reasonable. In fact the cost per night is more than 25 years ago but still unbelievable reasonable.

 

We dumped our luggage and went off to find something to eat but finding something to eat in the area around Casa Gonzalez is not difficult. There must be at least three restaurants in every block. Everything from a taco stand to an elegant restaurant.

 

In addition to the Annie Leibovitz exhibition we had made reservations for the Jessica Lang Dance Performance at Palacio de Bellas Artes on Friday night. We had great seats in about the third row center. The production was beautiful and the performance was amazing. Lithe, beautiful bodies that seemed to hang in the air or carry another person across the stage as if they were light as a feather.

 

Saturday morning we walked across the Reforma and into the Colonia Juarez to the building housing Leibovitz's exhibition, Women: New Portraits. The exhibition wasn't hung on the wall but was more of an installation on big banks of LCD screens showing one portrait at a time. This reminded me of a recent talk with a Gallery Owner who told me that she expected to see more and more photographs shown as an installation. Hard for me to believe because I still want to see a print but maybe that is just my age showing.

 

A nice comida and then back to Casa Gonzalez just before the afternoon rain.

 

I always want to try new restaurants and this time we headed out in the rain and back across Reforma to Havre 77 that has been open for about six months. The food was delicious and we got to talk to the chef-in-charge Gerado Ramos who previously worked here in San Miguel.

 

The next morning after another wonderful breakfast we were in the van and headed back to San Miguel. It seems like I always leave Mexico City before I'm ready to leave. So I'll go back again soon, even if only for a quick weekend getaway.  

Pozole Rojo

Yesterday as I walked back from Don Pedro it was about time for comida. I was hungry and was trying to decide if I would stop at a tiny new restaurant I'd heard about or go home and make a sandwich. I was leaning heavily toward going home but there was a sign in the doorway of Victoria's Comida Mexicana that read Pozole Rojo. I haven't had Pozole in a long time. That sign changed my mind. I stopped.

There are four tables and the restaurant looks so bright and clean. They brought me a menu. I looked at it for informational purposes but I already knew I wanted Pozole. They had both rojo and verde. I chose the rojo. They had bowls for chico or grande. Even though I was hungry the chico looked grande enough for me. They asked if I wanted the lettuce, radish and onion in it. Yes, yes I did indeed.

I met Maria who was in the tiny kitchen that is separated from the tables by a counter. She and her sister Victoria own the restaurant. Maria speaks English and she is a charming woman. I didn't get the exact address of the restaurant but it is on the same side of Ancha de San Antonio/Salida a Celaya as Don Pedro and is across the street from Los Faroles Restaurant. They are open from 10 AM to 7 PM everyday but Sunday. The rest of the menu looked delicious and the prices were reasonable but I don't know whether I'll ever try the other items. I think I may be stuck on their Pozole.

Out on the Town

It has been a busy week. I bought an extension ladder and started the change to LED track lighting, may have figured out how to get money into my Mexican account and helped Mujeres en Cambio by shooting portraits of the University Students. None of those things are minor events. If I had time I could write a blog essay about each of them.

I have also been out to dinner three nights. Last night dinner was at Mi Casa at the Instituto. Mi Casa is a fairly small, intimate restaurant. You needed reservations and the place was packed because Doc Severinsen, Gil Gutierrez and Gabriel Hernandez were performing.

I always think of Doc as a Big Star on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson and yet here I was sitting about 15 feet from him in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. But next month he could be playing with an orchestra in a concert hall in Chicago. Why would he play in this little restaurant for very little money. The cover change was only $120 pesos/person. That is like $10/person. Why?  He lives part time in San Miguel. It is obvious that he has bonded with the other musicians in the group and they are world class musicians from Mexico and Cuba. But most of all, I think he just loves music and he needs to perform.

There were people sitting in front of me so I had to shoot the video through the side door. The sound isn't as good as I would like. I still haven't learned how to edit video so you might want to skip over to about the 45 second mark.

I am so lucky to live here. Wonderful friends, beautiful town, amazing cultural opportunities.

I Feel Like I'm in Mexico

One of the things that I love, love, love about Mexico is eating in Patio restaurants. The first time we came to San Miguel in the 1980's we ate at two patio restaurants. Those two restaurants could have been what sold me on San Miguel.

The first was Bugambilia's which use to be on every tourist list of "Must Go To" restaurants. At that time it was on Hidalgo in a beautiful old patio. The food was good, the service was attentive and the lights were low. It was so romantic.

We stayed at the Sierra Nevada Hotel and they had a lovely patio. We had lunch there one day with our friends Pat and Tom. We ordered enchiladas and they served them on eight inch plates with straight one-inch- high sides with handles. Pat and I fell in love with the plates. The enchiladas were good but the plates were added to our shopping list. We found where they were sold in San Miguel and each bought six. We would have bought more but that was the total stock. Those "enchilada" plates were the first of my Gorky Gonzales collection of pottery.

The pictures in this blog entry were made last week in Casa Del Diezmo Restaurant at Jesus #36. It is another great patio. It is large and full of plants, hummingbird feeders, sculpture and little bubbling fountains. There is a long portico along one side. The food is Yucatecan and quite good. I had lunch there and I could have stayed all afternoon because I really felt like I was in "my" Mexico.

I'm Back

Just in case you wondered what happened. Why no blogging? I've been to Texas and back. It has been an interesting month. Not like most of my Christmas Past but that is okay. Things change. The worst thing about the trip was the weather. It was dreary, windy, rainy and cold most days. Then I come back to San Miguel and it has been dreary, windy, rainy and cold. What's up with the drizzly rain in December in San Miguel?

I had planned to spend five days in Port Aransas working on my Mercer Log project and some friends were going to be there as well so I was really looking forward to it. With a weather forecast of 12 to 20 mile an hour wind and some rain, the friends backed out. I backed out except for two days when I had some appointments that would keep me inside.

I shopped, had lunches and dinners with friends and saw as many movies as I could. At this point I think the best movie I saw was Nebraska but I also like Dallas Buyers Club. American Hustle was a good movie. Twelve Years a Slave was ten years too long. Judith Dench in Philomena gave another one of her great performances. The Coen Brothers latest movie, Inside Llewyn Davis was a downer. The Book Thief followed the book and looked like it was made on a theater set. I still have a lot more movies I want to see before the Academy Awards ceremony.

I went to Austin and saw my grandsons and I planned to go back for Christmas Eve until I came down with a cold/sinus thing. I wasn't bedridden but I couldn't expose my Daughter-in-Law who is in the middle of chemo for breast cancer. I really, really missed being with them. Well, there is always next year.

Mike and family went skiing for the holidays so Christmas Dinner was at my Sister-in-law's house. It was so wonderful to be with them.

Now I'm home. Celebrated another birthday last night with friends who arranged a special dinner at Frienze's. Wow! We had oysters prepared two ways, a pumpkin ginger soup, watercress salad, seared scallops on a bed of pecan rice and a lovely chocolate dessert. The dinner was special and so are the friends. That is Sam and me in the photo but Bob, Tom and Linda were there as well.

A Tasting Dinner

I joined friends and supporters for Feed The Hungry for a tasting dinner in the Moxi Restaurant at the Hotel Matilda. It is the first time I have been in the hotel since it was the Jacaranda. What a change. Very sleek and contemporary but still it felt like a comfortable space. Beautiful lighting and sparkling table settings. It was a lovely elegant evening.

I assume that Enrique Olvera the Chef and Owner of Pujol in Mexico City is still associated with Moxi/Matilda. The current Chef in residence is Alejandro Cuatepotzo.

There were six courses but I'm just showing you four of them. Clockwise from top left:

Tomato and Lettuce Salad from Purisima de Jalpa, worm salt.

 

Mixed vegetables and goat cheese wrapped in corn husks, grasshopper salsa.

 

Octopus "Veracruzana" style, Mexican salsa, olive sauce, coriander pesto.

 

Baby goat from "El Capricho" braised in agave paper, mashed mayflower beans, spiced rub.

 

I have to tell you that I'm finding some of that worm salt. We wondered if it was a typo for warm or if it really could be made from worms. Whatever it was we like the taste so I looked it up when I got home and sure enough it was "worm salt."  

 

I hear that Moxi has a very good Sunday Brunch. I'd like to try it.

 

Good food from taco stands to places like Moxi. Just finishing up a Film Festival and the Chamber Music Festival is about to start. This town is amazing.

My Weight Gain Plan

As usual when I come to Houston I follow a weight gain plan. I can't help it. Houston is one of the great restaurant cities in the USA. I always have to hit some of my favorites and try a few new ones as well.

I'm sure that anyone who followed Billieblog isn't surprised at seeing raw oysters when I write about eating in Houston. This is from my usual place, Goode Company Seafood. I wasn't sure I was going to have raw oysters because May isn't a month with an R in it. But I went and sat at the end of the bar where the oysters are being shucked right before your eyes. The Shucker wasn't eliminating very many oysters when he hit them with his knife. I'm not sure what sound he hears that means it isn't a good oyster but I always figure it is good sign if there are very few oysters in the bag that are thrown away. I also checked out the size of the oysters. I don't like them really, really big but then I did not want to order a dozen if they were as tiny as clams. Everything looked good so I ordered a dozen oysters on the half shell. Oh my, they were really, really good. Another day I stopped at Goode Company for the Campechana which is a giant seafood cocktail of shrimp and crab. Oh, so very, very delicious.

My Dear DIL took me to Torchy's Tacos in Rice Village. I had a shrimp taco and it was huge and very tasty. I like the tacos better that Berryhills. It is a franchise that I think started in Austin. There is another Torchy's or two in Houston and I predict that if you are in Houston or Austin you will probably have one near you before too long.

I went to see my friends Guy and Debbie. After a bit of wine in their garden we walked to Brazil's at the corner of Westheimer and Dunlavy. We have been there many times before because I love it and I love the mix of customers. Everything from students to artists, to writers to professionals.  It is another neighborhood place that serves good food at a good price. You want a great salad....they have it. You want pizza.....they have it. You want pasta.....they have it. You want coffee and a pastry.....they have it. You want a nice glass of wine.....they have it. You want to eat outside.....you can. You want a little live music....they have it several nights a week. You want to sit with your laptop.....no problem. Yeah.....I like this place and I think you would too.

Local Foods on the corner of Kelvin and Dunstan in Rice Village is a fairly new restaurant that focuses on local products. My favorite items at Local are the Coconut Thai soup and the Banh mi sandwich along with two amazing sides. You always have a choice of seven or eight sides but I usually have the kale raisin salad. I know that there are a lot of other tasty things on the menu but I've never been able to go there without ordering one of these two things. The problem is that the Coconut Thai soup is a random daily special. I've been known to open the door and look at the menu board just to see if I can get the soup.

Okay this shrimp salad isn't in a restaurant, it is lunch at a friend's house. Life can't get much better than visiting with a friend and then joining her at her table for a delicious lunch.

I've eaten at a bunch of other places as well. I don't have a scale to step on and I'm not sure I'd want to. I'll get off my Weight Gain Plan when the plane touches down in a few days in Mexico.

What Do You Want for Breakfast?

I love to go somewhere to eat breakfast. Not everyday but sometimes. Today was a day to eat breakfast out. Texas does BIG breakfasts. Isn't this fun....you can look at a menu but how about looking at the actual breakfast plate as well.

It is the Empire Café on Westheimer. I love it for lunch too. I think the building started life as a gas station. Now there is a big canopy and tables out where you would fill your gas tanks. On the side they either added a long room on or it was the service bay. I guess the Empire Café has been around more than 20 years. After they became popular you couldn't find a place to park but eventually they bought the house behind them and made a parking lot. Still sometimes I have to park down the street because the parking lot is full.

They make great coffee and for breakfast they have about four people grinding the beans and steaming the milk. I love the funky laid back atmosphere and I love the people watching.

After breakfast I headed for Baseball USA to watch Will's baseball game. His team, the Wranglers, won. It is really amazing how much these 13 and 14 year old boys know about the game and that they are aware of how many outs and where people are on base and where to throw the ball. It wasn't that long ago that their heads weren't always tuned into the technical aspects of the game.

After the game, I stopped at the grocery store. I think the family is headed off to several places tonight so I'm going to take advantage of being alone to make me a salad of crab meat, romaine lettuce, black olives and celery and I'll dress it with a light vinaigrette.