Beginner’s Choice: Mexican Dinner, Mocktail and More

Mexican Marvel

When Carmen announced last week that she and Gen were going to cook chile poblano con queso, frijoles y mole (featured image) and quesadilla and to bake tarta de ricotta con dulce de leche I was very impressed!

It was their cooking debut and it sounded very ambitious. For a start, they had to find all the Mexican ingredients. They worked through the week. Making dulce de leche was simple. It’s just a matter of boiling a can of condensed milk, but it took three hours. Making the pastry required skill and patience. The end result was a baked cheesecake with a layer of cooked condensed milk.

The dinner was amazing! I have dined at Mexican restaurants a few times. Carmen’s and Gen’s dishes were restaurant standards by my standards. My contribution to the dinner was a mocktail of fruits (pomelo, watermelon, pineapple and cherry) in coconut water with frozen lime juice for ice.

Congratulations to Carmen and Gen. They have taken home-cooking and baking to a new level!

Marie’s Jambalaya

Marie sent photos from Pittsburgh of the jambalaya she made using a mix she bought. I had always wondered what jambalaya was. I first heard it mentioned in a Karen Carpenter song, along with crawfish pie and fillet gumbo. Now I know that it is an American Creole dish of a stew served with rice.

The humble stew (with sweet wine)

It’s my turn to cook this weekend. I have to keep things simple and I won’t attempt to rival Carmen and Gen. I cooked a pork and chicken stew in sweet wine. I also cooked tuna pasta in a hurry. My favourite no-fuss dessert when I have very little time is mango jelly. So far, it hasn’t failed me.