wacky wintertime weather is whack (must warm bones!)

it seems that winter has decided to return, temporarily (we hope). we had a few days of warmth, thought spring was settling in, but, alas, no. highs are expected to be in the mid-40s (that's around 7C). there was a frost last night (stay strong, baby basil plants!), and predictions of snow it snowed at my in-law's house.

the glorious sun came out for a brief interlude friday, and saturday we returned to grey and goosebumps.

and so, the mister declared it fondue weather.

and fondue means... garlic. copious amounts of garlic. at least at chez nous*.


and wine. and kirsch. and cheese. wubb-uh-ly bubb-uh-ly cheese.

now, we werent insane enough to prepare the eggs at the end.  this time. still, we gorged on the crunchy cheese from the bottom of the pot.

and today, i've decided to make soup. recalling november and december jaunts to southern california to visit my grandparents, aunt, and cousins, and the inevitable stop at anderson's for split pea soup, i have plundered the pantry and yes! found some split peas.

my mom's version included a ham stock and bits of meat. my version is veggie-friendly and includes roasted vegetables.

step 1: roast onion and carrot with greek oregano.

step 2: make stock. i used celery, onion, roasted onion and carrots, and astragalus root, and bay leaf.  let those flavours mingle.

step 3: wash and sort peas.  add to the stock.


step 4: COOK! for a few hours. muuuuushy.


step 5: immersion blenderize! eat!


*the first time i made fondue with the mister in switzerland, in the middle of summer when it was HOT and we lived in an attic space, was when my friend adam was visiting europe before law school (yay adam! he's graduated now!). i had been in the country, oh, maybe a week or two? something like that. anywho, not knowing my fanny from a hot rock concerning fondue**, i asked him how much garlic i should chop. he said "as much as you like." MU HA HA HA HA. maybe it was the pre-fondue wine and the heat of the kitchen, but i chopped darn near the whole head. THAT was a good fondue.

**we made fondue when the mister was visiting california, the winter before i moved, for friends. being, you know, a team USA girl, i made sure to provide vegetables with our spread. the mister was confused as all get out. vegetables?! well, yeah, i mean, this is fondue, right? vegetables and apples, sure! being a good sport, he rolled with it. earlier in the day there had been a charged discussion with my housemate concerning a fondue pot... the poor guy.

mojo you di'n't! (oh yes i did)

the cuisine of the canary islands is not what i expected.  i should have known because 1) we were in a touristy town and 2) menorca was the same.  we were expecting to find awesome local foods to sink our teeth into, and we did, but it took some serious trial and error.  emphasis on the error.  however, even in the not-so-awesome-i-think-this-paella-came-from-a-box restaurants, there was one thing that was always present and most of the time awesome: mojo sauce.  mojo is a staple condiment--it came out with bread (bread was brought to the table whether or not you asked for it, and even when you specifically said you didnt want bread so please dont bring it but it was brought and you were charged for it anyway)--much like msg in china.  it's awesome on bread before dinner, it's awesome with the potatoes that usually came with dinner, it's awesome on one's vegetables... i was in love.  i fell hard and fast.  and so, i decided to try and recreate it myself.  and i was pretty darn successful.

there are two mojo sauces--red and green. after scouring ingredients list in the supermarket, i discovered that the red one was pepper based and the green one was cilantro based. but what else was in there? garlic, certainly, oil, yes, but what spices? i decided to try cumin and paprika. and i think i'm right.

first up, mojo rojo.
into the food processor i threw:
2 roasted red peppers
about an 8th of 1 spicy wow hot hot hot pepper
a few garlic cloves
cumin
paprika
a pinch of salt
a splash of vinegar and a healthy glug of olive oil

whirl whirl whirl and done!

the whoa-oh mojo rojo tasted pretty much spot on.

next, verde!


i decided to approach this one like one might take on a cilantro pesto without nuts or cheese.

i usd:
garlic!
2 bunches of cilantro
1/2 a bunch of parsley
a little cumin
a pinch of salt
a splash of vinegar
a healthy glug of olive oil

this one is my favourite.  now, it did not taste like the sauce we were served at one particular restaurant in costa adeje (the rest of the food was subpar but their mojo verde... i just wanted to drink it in mass quantities. [all the restaurants had their own version of the sauce and some were better than the others]).

victory is mine!

as i mentioned earlier, mojo is usually eaten with bread or potatoes. or both. i boiled us some potaters to go with our sauce since i had some handy. i used a firm potato--one that is used for raclette--as it doesnt disintegrate when boiled. i boiled the taters with salt to try and approximate the papas arrugadas from canaria.

and then i baked some fish.

the fish was stuffed with lemon and bell pepper. and parsley.  



and they all lived happily ever after.

seriously, mojo is delicious.

later in the week, i made tacos...

stay tuned...