Sparkling Limeade (Limonada)

Realizing that where there is lime zest, there is lime juice, I decided to make limonada at the same time as the lime zest cooler. Basically, the mise is the same limes from the last post. I simply juiced them after I zested them:


In the end, the limes yielded about a cup of lime juice. I added about a half cup of sugar and a quart of sparkling water, which resulted in this:

Well, it wasn't really that blurry in person, unless you spiked it with something. Simple and delicious, and much more to my taste (tart) than the lime-zest cooler (sweet). It lacked the interesting depth of flavor from the zest in the lime-zest cooler, though. Perhaps some combination of the two would be ideal...

Sources:
Limes from Whole Foods
Sparkling water from Whole Foods

Lime-Zest Cooler (Agua Preparada de Limon Rallado)

I bought a bunch of limes to make some drinks to go along with the guacamole from the last post. First up was the more difficult of the two, but it is also the one I prefer. It is very easy, and it has a nice depth of flavor that is hard to find elsewhere, I think. First, the mise:


Pretty simple. There's also sugar and water, but you know what those look like (and the sugar is added to taste). First, I zested all of the limes:


Then I added the zest to a quart of water (using some of the water to rinse out the bowl to make sure I got all of the zest):


I let the zest steep for an hour, until it looked pretty much like an inanimate carbon rod:


Well, it at least looked like radioactive waste... I poured the water through a fine-mesh strainer and pressed the zest to get as much lime-y (as opposed to limey) goodness (and radioactivity) as I could:


Next, I added about 3/4 cup of sugar (a bit less works, too, as I have subsequently proven) -- and that's it. Just add ice and enjoy:

Overall, this is very good, despite the fact that it would raise eyebrows at DHS if you were to take it to a public forum. Be careful with the sugar, and it is a nice, refreshing drink, even if it lacks the tang of a good limonada (as you will see). I think it would work well in a margarita with some additional lime juice (as the book suggests).

Sources:
Limes from Whole Foods

Guacamole with Tomatillos (Guacamole de Tomate Verde)

So, it's been a while since I posted, but I have been dealing with moving back home (you'll see my real kitchen -- it actually has burners that respond when you turn the dial -- in some posts soon), and I've had a busy few months on top of that. Somehow food blogging takes lower priority than my son and my job. Anyway, on to the food. Sorry if there's not much detail, but I actually made this almost four months ago. Anyway, here's the mise:

First, I husked and washed the tomatillos, and then I boiled them for about 10 minutes:

Meanwhile, I diced the onion, cilantro, and serranos (thusly):

I then put everything into the blender:

Next, I "whacked" it, as either Jamie Oliver or John Gotti might say, until the ingredients were a coarse puree. You can't really see how coarse because of the bubbles, but them's the breaks:


Finally, I mashed the avocado in a bowl and added the tomatillo/onion/chile puree:

That's pretty much it. (Sorry about the mess on the side of the bowl.) The guacamole was nice, and (obviously) thinner than guacamole made only from avocados, which I think is often too heavy. The best thing about this guacamole is that the acid in the tomatillo helps prevent browning, which is important when you are taking this to someone's house an hour away (as I was). I also liked the trick to keep the avocado pit in the bowl with the guacamole, which also helps delay (but does not prevent) browning. This was very good, and it will certainly make it into our rotation.

Sources:
I think I actually got the ingredients for this from Whole Foods, not Central Market